Homer, Alaska – Homer painter Oceans Wills exhibits “What Color Blue” at Bunnell Street Arts Center May 1 – June 2, 2026. The exhibit opens on First Friday, May 1, from 5-7pm with an artist talk at 6pm.

Artist Statement

This body of work takes place locally in the landscapes of the Kachemak Bay area, among the plants and animals we share space with. It contains many of the ideas and themes I continue to explore in my art: Relationships to nature, community, and self, appreciation of the ordinary and the beauty found anywhere, acknowledgment of anxieties, sorrows, and unknowns, expressions of holding and being held. Also included is playfulness and curiosity as I followed what most excited me creatively. I let myself embrace eclectic concepts and imagery with trust that the work would fit together through pattern, color, and possibility of evocation. I often approach painting like collage, pulling observational and imagined images together with the question of how they relate. This exhibit offers a question that comes to mind almost daily–what color blue–on horizon, on cloud bottom, on coffee mug, water jug, on the palette. Blue is open to interpretation, an invitation to notice.

Biography:

Oceana has long been inspired by the ocean and spent many summers on it as a deckhand in the commercial salmon fisheries. Her earlier work centers women in the fishing industry and imagines mermaid life parallel to life on land. She spends summer on land these days and her art is inspired by the animals, rocks, plants, people, and landscapes of her hometown, Homer. Oceana’s primary medium is gouache paint on clay board panels (a smooth archival surface) or on paper. She also works in acrylic, pen, and embroidery and is learning how to sew.