Cartoonish, whimsical figures abound in “Over the Hill,” Rebecca Morgan’s fifth solo show with Asya Geisberg Gallery. Featuring several self-portraits, the exhibition offers a glimpse into the artist’s life as she faces major milestones: the metaphorical hill of approaching 40, and the literal hills that have surrounded her since moving to the Hudson Valley in June 2022.
Hints of the latter theme emerge in Hudson Valley Plein Air (May 12, 2023) (2023), which nods to the legacy of landscape painters who admired the natural beauty of the region. Inserting herself into this history, Morgan is seen painting en plein air in Self-Portrait as a Romanticized Painter (2023). A small image of Hudson Valley Plein Air (May 12, 2023) appears on her easel as if documenting her artmaking practice.
Indeed, the entire show depicts the artist at different stages of the exhibition process, beginning with her frazzled self-depiction in Self-Portrait on the First Day of Summer Break (First Day of Making This Show) (2023). Elsewhere, she looks to the future in another self portrait at age 100, which includes a small cartoon that reads: “What does it all mean?”