Gestural abstraction has often been understood as evidence of the artist’s directness and immediacy of expression. There is authority in the presumed confidence of conquering the canvas and marking it as territory; painting becomes a means through which a range of emotional truths can be asserted. Gabby Prado’s recent works, however, depart from the expectation of resolution as a means of securing the artist’s presence on the canvas. Instead, Prado allows the ground to be occupied by awkwardness and hesitation, letting uncertainty enter the physical act of making.

Lines bend, twirl, fade, appear, and reappear, while broad fields of paint blend and merge without immediately committing to a particular direction. Gestures are interrupted, colors encounter one another, and forms remain suspended between intention and accident. Throughout, Prado negotiates the accumulation of decisions, impulses, revisions, and interruptions that ultimately bring the works together.

“In the Act of Becoming” reminds us that imperfection remains at the core of our being. In our pursuit of greatness, we often forget that triumph does not always arrive as resolution or certainty. It can also take the form of negotiation—a willingness to hesitate, to revise, to remain uncertain, and yet allow ourselves the freedom of becoming.