Interwoven

Cortney Herron’s latest body of work explores identity as a frequency — something continually transmitted, interpreted, and recalibrated in relation to one’s surroundings. Her figures appear as beings in disguise, with elongated fingers, gloves, veils, masks, and animal forms functioning as tools for translation between the internal self and the external world. Recurring feline imagery shifts from companion or guardian to camouflage, blurring the boundaries between figure and disguise while reflecting the subtle adaptations required to navigate spaces in which one may feel misunderstood or othered.

At the center of the series is an exploration of energy and the invisible exchanges that occur between individuals. Herron considers the tension between what can be controlled or concealed and what is inevitably communicated through presence, perception, and connection. Her figures appear to move between possible versions of themselves, shifting in response to how they are perceived. Through this evolving visual language, Herron examines adaptation as a form of endurance, revealing the complex ways identity is preserved, transformed, and expressed.

In the artist's words:

"Three figures emerge and dissolve into one another, their forms folding through flowing, floral currents until it's no longer clear where one ends and the next begins. This is the energy exchange at its most literal: not metaphorical closeness, but actual bleed, the push and pull between bodies rendered as a shared field rather than separate presences making contact. No mask, glove, or veil appears here, because none would matter. Disguise can redirect a gaze, but it can't stop an energy field from folding into another. The earthy, fiery palette holds the scene together even as the shapes themselves pull apart and merge, creating the sensation of being swept into someone else's frequency, absorbed before you've had the chance to resist it. Interwoven is the reminder underneath the rest of the series: camouflage protects what's seen, but never what's felt. We are always, whether we intend to be or not, already entangled."