Hillary Serota Needle

Drawing inspiration and direction from my photographs, I’ve trained myself to see what I’m looking at. By breaking down an image into shadows, light, movement, and color, I discovered the ability to breathe life into something of one dimension.

I especially enjoy isolating an up-close perspective on glass, food, water reflections, and flowers. It’s the patterns and complexities found in everyday moments that continue to amaze and delight, nature’s formula for the creation of something unique, imperfect, and random.

The Koi series was a labor of love. Koi symbolize luck, ambition, prosperity, and perseverance. Each canvas evokes a different energy. “Playing Koi” is pure joy and movement.

The piece reminds me of children splashing about in the water, with their endless energy and fun. “Kissing Koi” was inspired by a magnificent pond that represents a self-contained little community. All varieties of koi coexist, varying in shape, size, and color.

Unbothered by their differences, they swim, feed, and, en masse, break the surface for an occasional kiss. The solitary “Acting Koi” is finding a moment of depth and stillness, almost a suspended animation, in a reflective, otherworldly pond. The koi glides past the viewer, not ready to engage. It’s taking a moment to just be, as we all should do.