In The Tale of Lost Waters at Five Points Arts in Connecticut, Susan Hoffman Fishman exhibits seven vertical scrolls resembling satellite imagery. Four are layered in deep, earthy browns—recalling land formations and dry blood—pressing against vibrant blues reminiscent of water. The bodies of water seem suspended between presence and disappearance, drifting toward an undefined space—a light or a void.
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Three scrolls grouped on a wall evoke a closeup of geological strata. Two resemble rock textures, with turquoise water embedded like a precious stone or a heart-like organ. You can see traces of what once was water. The third piece in this group stands apart, its green surface interrupted by a thin, protruding ellipse of water, a form in transition—morphing, becoming something else.
Fishman’s work documents bodies of water that have drastically shrunk—some, like Lake Poopó (Bolivia), Lake Poyang (China), and Lake Chad (Africa), are nearly gone. Using satellite imagery, cyanotype prints, acrylic, and collage, she builds textured surfaces that reflect the shifting terrain—desert where there was water, receding coastlines, exposed rock formations. The scroll format, long associated with sacred texts and historical records, reinforces the idea of witnessing and remembrance. The works are mounted with a French cleat on unpainted wood, emphasizing their function as artifacts of change. In traditional landscape painting, nature is often depicted as sublime and untouchable. Here, the landscapes are unstable and altered. The beauty remains, but it is conditional—what Fishman calls the ironic beauty of damaged environments.
A recording of El Na Refa Na La—an ancient Hebrew prayer meaning “Please, God, heal her,” performed by Pleuni Apollonia—accompanies the exhibition. The prayer, from the Book of Numbers (12:13), is brief: five words spoken by Moses in a plea for his sick sister’s healing. Its repetition in this setting shifts its meaning. No longer a request for a single life, it becomes a lament for the loss of entire landscapes. A ritual for mourning, an invocation for what is vanishing. At Five Points, The Tale of Lost Waters is a meditation on absence, a call to look and to remember.
All photos courtesy of Susan Hoffman Fishman
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The Tale of Lost Waters, Susan Hoffman Fishman at Five Points Arts through April 12, 2025.