Tall Cotton: Anna Sidana

Tall Cotton, the debut exhibition of paintings by Anna Sidana (she/her), is a mesmerizing journey through a world of botanical enchantment, intertwining emotions, intricate family narratives and the complex history of cotton as a global commodity. Drawing inspiration from her childhood memories and a yearning to connect with her cultural roots, Sidana discovered a profound connection with the cotton fields of her family farm in Rajasthan, India. Reminiscing on warm, sunny days spent running through her grandfather’s cotton fields or playing hide-and-seek amongst the mango and pomegranate trees, Anna discovered the source of her creative expression. As an Indian woman who has traversed the globe working in tech from London to Silicon Valley, she felt a calling to portray her childhood imagery that resonates with the pressing issues of our time. Anna's paintings depict cotton not only as a beautiful flower, but also as a crop with a deep history tainted by colonialism and human oppression. Bravely painting images from the heart, her work touches on subjects both personal and universal.

The title of the exhibition, "Tall Cotton," is derived from a phrase used in rural farming communities of the antebellum South, symbolizing bountiful crops, soaring prices, or thriving prosperity. Her large-scale oil paintings blur the boundaries between recollection and abstraction, symbolism and beauty.“Through the lusciousness of oil paint, I experience every emotion from sheer joy to intense sadness. I lose myself in the push and pull of each brush stroke,“ she says. These fantasylands are teeming with exotic fruits, alluring blossoms, and dazzling peacock plumes. Sidana's contemporary twist on landscape painting is a fluid and lyrical psychological space untethered to a specific location. The power of Anna's oeuvre lies in its ability to beckon with an inviting allure while simultaneously delving into pressing issues of today and convoluted histories of the past.