Colin Fleck: Directions to Another Day

The paintings of Colin Fleck’s solo show Directions to Another Day embrace open-ended storytelling. Fleck creates narrative-driven paintings that are paused in media res, asking viewers to imagine the before and after of each scene. The childlike and fantastical whimsy in Fleck’s work engages viewers through his play on iconography and text—recognizable and legible but re-signified by their juxtapositions. The figures, in particular, draw us back to our childhood, perhaps the only constant across each work. The artwork plays on our childlike curiosity and wonder—we find joy in what we can and where we can. With joy, however, comes the inevitable challenges and pathos. The sequences of events and the stories are up to us to figure out. Fleck’s paintings are semiotic puzzles that activate viewers into creating stories—indeed, stories abound.