Megan Gabrielle Harris exemplifies the phenomenon of slow living and soft life perfectly, both in her afro-escapism and surrealism practice, and in her personal lived experience.
Hailing from Sacramento in Northern California, Megan’s works are loosely inspired by either her own personal travels, or places that she would love to, and aims to visit.
A kaleidoscope of soft, and loose pastel hues frames her dreamscapes, transporting viewers of her portraits into an enchanted realm of endless possibility and beauty. Her muses, tranquil and stunning as the idyllic settings they find themselves in, adorn light satin-silk dresses that flow as liberally as the distant lakes that they peacefully regard.
Across the entirety of her oeuvre, we are denied the chance to make direct eye contact with her muses. Their eyes are perpetually closed, or diverted from the gaze of the viewer, almost in an oblivious state of peace, harmony, and meditation, unperturbed and unaware of anyone or anything other than their moment of bliss.
In addition to celebrating the notion of rest, leisure and repose, Megan enjoys conveying pastoral themes and elements in her work, with most of her landscapes celebrating the beauty of nature in a very paradisiacal manner. True to her escapism practice and principles, the artist employs edenic features in her paintings as a means to communicate the sacredness and divinity of nature at its best, and indeed, as God had intended before the fall of man. It is in this utter state of unparalleled serenity and happiness, that Megan’s muses are able to be the heightened versions of themselves; feminine, fragile and free.
Moreover, in recent works such as ‘Dusk’, and ‘Holiday II’, Megan ventures into new terrain in her practice by exploring and probing deeper into more sentimental themes such as love, friendship and togetherness. Whilst in earlier works the artist masterfully captured the essence of unapologetic self-love and indulgence, in her latest series, she depicts the sanctity of sorority, and continues to frame women at the centre of the composition and focus, especially where the shadowy distant depiction of men is present.
