Alexis Herman: Resonate

Kelly-McKenna Gallery is proud to present Alexis Herman: Resonate, a solo exhibition of new paintings by American painter Alexis Herman, on view October 9 – November 14, 2025. This body of work draws on Herman’s lifelong connection to water as both subject and metaphor; its surface a mirror of shifting light, its depths a regulating force.

Best known for her hyperrealist and deeply spiritual paintings of the ocean and tides, Resonate finds Herman exploring new themes and compositions. Canvases such as Grounded (White Oak) and Suspended (Catalpa), single leaves float gently across water’s surface, their delicate veins illuminated as concentric ripples radiate outward. These meditative works reflect Herman’s desire to find spiritual peace in small, suspended moments of stillness. Meanwhile other paintings, including March 4th, First Light and Caribe, offer expansive seascapes where dawn light dissolves into rhythmic swells, evoking the sense of infinity and renewal that the ocean holds.

Much of Herman’s inspiration arises from the small objects collected by her son including leaves, stones, and shells. These items are reminders of the sacred beauty found in everyday encounters with the natural world. “These fragments of childhood wonder enter the studio with me,” the artist notes, “and become portals for painting’s deeper exploration of presence, rhythm, and reflection.”

Gallery Director Caitlin Kelly-McKenna reflects on the decision to mount the exhibition so close to the Jersey Shore: “I had said I wasn’t going to show seascapes here, not with the ocean at our doorstep. And then I saw Alexis Herman’s work. Her paintings transcend place—they resonate with the body and spirit. They remind us that water isn’t just scenery; it’s a language of healing and connection.”

Herman’s art, forever tethered to water, reminds us that its flow is both grounding and transformative. Resonate invites viewers to experience the ocean and its rhythms as both metaphor and material presence—an elemental force that shapes memory, emotion, and the act of painting itself.