I think it’s safe to say that everyone dreads turning on the news nowadays, with the turmoil of politics and world events. If it’s not on the TV, stressful headlines take over email news updates or flood social media platforms. However, for an artist, it can either bring one’s mood down or inspire one to take action by creating one’s own interpretation of a solution. Blair Saxon-Hill is the latter. With Saxon-Hill’s newest solo show at SHRINE, Saxon-Hill’s oil paintings, which portray mostly flowers, provide serenity to this chaotic state of American politics.
Although these flower paintings may not outright criticize politics as one might be accustomed to, by using specific iconography or writing, that does not make them any less political. To Saxon-Hill, flowers have been a way to process this tense political climate by engaging with her community. Using flowers as the main metaphor for peace makes one wonder whether the arrangement of flowers in each painting tells a story, especially since flowers have specific meanings.
It’s most evident in Peace Piece. Featuring a bright orange sunrise over a body of water, the star of the show is the olive branches. Though not a flower, historically, olive branches have been a symbol of peace. Hence, by “extending an olive branch” into the distance, Saxon-Hill has hope for the future, starting with a new day.
Allium, blue thistle, hydrangeas, and lilac are some of the flowers that can be identified in Flower Bed. This rhythmically busy picture reflects a balance of organized discord.
If blue thistle symbolizes resilience and courage, allium prosperity and unity, and hydrangeas and lilac youth and renewal, Flower Bed merely suggests that our political climate in the United States can strive to work towards unity for a new era of peace.
Moreover, Saxon-Hill’s paintings, depending on subject and mood, have contrasting paint application styles. The flower paintings tend to have bright, saturated colors with thick impasto and visible brushmarks. These tranquil paintings contrast with Saxon-Hill’s emotionally raw and disquieting paintings of grim reality. In these raw paintings, the brushstrokes are still visible, but the linen underneath is shown more, and the colors are muted.
If the flower paintings are inspired by post-Impressionism, these sullen paintings have a more Expressionist feel. The Truth of It, specifically, has a more Egon Schiele feel with the usage of little warm colors on such a cool-colored body. Nevertheless, these flower-focused paintings are meant to serve as a juxtaposition to the more literal paintings that depict the emotional toll of the times.
The only painting that breaks this pattern is She Holds Hope, which rather combines feeling unsure about what may happen with having hope for the future regardless.
By having the figure feel physically weighed down by the heavy books in the woman’s arms and long hair that tugs at her head, causing her to hold her head sideways, one feels how much this affects the figure. However, based on the saturation of the colors, presumably, Saxon-Hill has more hope than despair here.
Wild Mornings has a similar concept to She Holds Hope, but because of the more exposed underpainting and linen, looser brushmarks, darker colors, and wilting flowers, Saxon-Hill had more uncertainty here.
As politics continues to divide and cause panic, Saxon-Hill reminds us, quite literally, to stop and smell the roses, and it is okay to feel uncertain. We’re only human after all, and wondering about the future is simply in our nature as a way to cope and see if things improve. But one must remember that each new dawn will bring opportunity and change for the better.
Blair Saxon-Hill’s Peace Piece is on view at SHRINE: 368 Broadway, New York, NY 10013. On view through August 21st, 2026. Tuesday – Saturday, 10 am – 6 pm. @shrine.nyc
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About the writer: Sara Aparicio is a Queens-based mixed-media artist and writer. She is currently studying for her BFA in Fine Arts at the Fashion Institute of Technology. There, she also contributes to FIT’s newspaper, W27, as both an editor and a writer. Occasionally, she dabbles in writing poems about what occurred in her life. Similarly, the subject of her artwork primarily focuses on creating accurate representations of her Colombian and Puerto Rican heritage, whilst also raising awareness of issues not spoken about through advocacy in the form of paintings, drawings, collages, and sometimes prints. Her poems and artwork have been published in both an edition of Forest Hills Community Building’s newspaper, The Orbit, and SUNY’s literary magazine, Gandy Dancer. Since 2023, her art has been showcased in Free Arts NYC’s annual Youth Showcase. Sara’s most recent exhibition was at a local show with A-VENT-SPACE. You can find more of her artwork on her Instagram page: @sara.aparicio.studio