Laura Malone remembers being proud of her painting of yellow kittens when she was about 6. Coming from a family of distinguished artists, she also recalls a childhood in which the scents of oil paint and thinners were commonplace. Today, she paints in oils as well—but with variations. Her solo show, “Bodies of Water, Bodies of Light,” at Oakland’s Mercury 20 Gallery through Oct. 19, consists of 18 works in oil, some of them layered with polyester Dura-Lar film and/or combined with acrylic or spray paint. Some of the pieces are painted on copper, which, when viewed from different angles, gleams and creates a feeling of movement. Not Drowning, Waving, the painting that became the inspiration for this grouping, was inspired by a water aerobics class Malone took while recovering from an injury. “The sheer exuberance of the women in the class, throwing their arms in the air and hollering … I wanted to capture that,” she said in a phone interview. Her published artist’s statement elaborates further: “As I worked on Not Drowning, Waving, I became fascinated with the gesture of the women’s raised arms. Are these women inviting connection…or could they be pleading for help? Asking for permission…or saying goodbye?” The women in the class were all “of a certain age—50s, 60s, 70s,” Malone said. “They had discarded youthful self-consciousness. They didn’t care what people thought of them.” It’s important, she said, “to see who these older women are.” EXHIBITION INSPIRATION Laura Malone’s ‘Not Drowning, Waving’ was inspired by a water aerobics class she took while recovering from an injury. (Photo by Sibila Savage, courtesy of Laura Malone) For Malone, the work also reflects a spiritual component. She writes that she sees “a flux and flow between merging and standing apart that occurs when people gather.” The raised arms in her group settings “can convey a sense of ritual. In this way … the work is spiritual.” Some of the paintings in “Bodies of Water, Bodies of Light,” including Venice Canal, inspired by the Venice waterways in Los Angeles, were created before Not Drowning, Waving. Malone took a video of the water in 2019, and then used a still from it as inspiration for the painting. Not all her paintings depict women—Foundlings depicts children in an orphanage, who appear to be under a layer of water or ice. “I wanted to capture the sense of time suspension during the pandemic,” Malone said. The feminine spirit and its connection to water run as a theme through the show. The “feminine” has been associated with water for most, if not all, of human history. “…water, life giving, fertile, changing and mysterious, has long been equated with the feminine aspects of creation, nature and spirituality,” wrote Ana Munteeanu in her piece, “The Feminine Spirit of Water,” published in the Journal of Research in Gender Studies. Malone refers to this in her materials, calling the pieces “an evocative exploration of feminine subjectivity…Figures fluctuate between transparency and solidity, merging with their surroundings or standing apart, reflecting themes of intimacy and belonging.” Water, she said in the interview, is about flow, connection and open boundaries. “In it, we are not so separate from others. You can relax into it.” Her artist statement elaborates. “The water in this series is another character—a persona that along with the paint itself, engulfs, joins, and penetrates the figures.” JOYFUL HOMAGE In ‘The Golden Hour,’ artist Laura Malone wanted to capture ‘how life can become colorful as we age.’ (Photo by Sibila Savage, courtesy of Laura Malone) Yet another aspect of many of the paintings is their homage to joy. In The Golden Hour, Malone said, “The woman doing the handstand is multicolored, in joyful colors.” She wanted to capture “how life can become colorful as we age.” Malone would like visitors to the exhibition to feel immersed in each painting, a specific experience for each one. In The Golden Hour, for example, she said, “the ladies are just goofing around in the water.” She is working on a new series for a solo show scheduled for next year. One piece, which stretches from floor to ceiling, was inspired by her 98-year-old mother, whom she almost lost a decade ago. The light, gauzy fabric elicits the idea of life’s impermanence, and yet is beautiful in both its fragility and strength. ‘Bodies of Water, Bodies of Light,’ Mercury 20 Gallery, 457 25th St., Oakland. Through Oct. 19. mercurytwenty.com