Statement
Since pre-history, our ancient ancestors studied the sky to understand cycles of life, navigate, and predict major events – seamlessly combining practices of science and engineering with myth and spirituality. But sometime during modern life, contemporary culture lost its reliance on looking up.
My practice echoes old ways of studying the sky using new and analog technologies, and it occupies a space where scientific observation, sensory experience, and contemplation overlap. The paradox of my painting is that no one sees how much effort is required. This mirrors our relationship with the atmosphere: we rarely see how temperature, humidity, and latitude shape the colors we perceive. Add smog, particulate matter, and a precise location on Earth, and the atmospheric story shifts again – subtly, yet undeniably.
Using water drawn from the environment, via dehumidifier or collection, I thin acrylic paint and apply layer upon layer to canvas, expanding each color with every brushstroke until the surface is dry. Fine gradients I create reflect the sky’s composition and, like the sky, reveal no single mark. Fields of color emerge through accumulation rather than gesture.
Shaped by a disciplined and contemplative process, as with my broader practice, painting becomes a meditative act; one that asks for prolonged attention, physical endurance, and embodied presence. For me, painting is an offering, a devotion to the wonder and brilliance that surrounds us and fills our every breath.
Photo: Madalyn Rowell
Bio
Lindsy Halleckson’s luminous paintings are a distinct exploration of the atmosphere, driven by a process that evolves alongside her deepening understanding of light and perception. With an approach that seamlessly merges scientific inquiry, deep observation, and profound introspection, her work embodies an ongoing dialogue between the external world and the inner self. Through her meticulous study of the sky at the edges of day and night, Halleckson captures the fleeting yet powerful interplay between light, atmosphere, and perception—creating works that not only document, but evoke the complex and transformative qualities of our environment.
Halleckson’s work has been shown in galleries across the US and internationally, and her paintings have been commissioned for public and private collections from Martha’s Vineyard to Los Angeles. Recognized through exhibitions, fellowships, and grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board (2018, 2021, 2024), Metropolitan Regional Arts Council/McKnight Foundation (2017, 2023) and Puffin Foundation (2013), her practice extends beyond traditional boundaries. She has collaborated with atmospheric chemists on projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and one of her paintings appears in the Art x Climate collection as part of the 5th National Climate Assessment (NCA5). Artist research residencies in the Arctic, including The Arctic Circle (2018) and in Greenland (2023), have expanded her scope, infusing collaborations, remote sensing data, and data gathered with her own equipment. Other art residencies she has attended include Cuttyhunk Island (2025), Montello Foundation (2024), Hinge Arts at The Kirkbride (2016), as a Jerome-funded Emerging Artist Fellow at Tofte Lake Center (2011) and New York Mills Regional Cultural Center (2010). She was an Art(ists) on the Verge Fellow (2018). Her work is represented by Dirkse/Prim Gallery in Seattle, WA, Lanoue Gallery in Boston, MA, and Wally Workman Gallery in Austin, TX.