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Hilton Contemporary & Arts Poetica Global Present:

Garden After the Storm — Arica Hilton

The paintings, poetry and music explore the emotional landscape that emerges after upheaval — reflection, transformation, longing, and renewal — while others move through themes of romantic passion, spirituality, and the visceral force of human emotion. Each composition unfolds like a chapter in a larger narrative, inviting the audience into a space of feeling, reflection, and discovery.

Pièce de Résistance

Garden After the Storm

Oil & Acrylic Mixed Media on Canvas

Garden After the Storm | Mixed media with oil and acrylic on canvas | 60 × 144 in (152 × 366 cm)

Garden After the Storm | Mixed media with oil and acrylic on canvas | 60 × 144 in (152 × 366 cm)

A monumental canvas — five feet tall, twelve feet wide — and the undeniable centerpiece of the exhibition. Working in the Luminist tradition, Hilton captures what that movement pursued above all else: the depiction of light and atmosphere as emotional experience. Majestic landscapes dissolve into luminous sky, water into reflection, earth into feeling — each passage a meditation on what endures after the storm has passed.

Other Featured Works

Jardin du Monde - Oil on Canvas-40x30in (102 x 76 cm) - Arica Hilton

Jardin du Monde – Oil on Canvas-40x30in (102 x 76 cm)

Jardin Du Monde – Oil on Canvas

– AricA Hilton

“Jardin Du Monde” is my dreamlike homage to the impressionists via aa universal theme, The water worlds in the galaxy of stars. Hydrogen is the most plentiful element in the universe. It is the basis for oxygen to connect and create the elixir of life. With brush and palette knife, I have layer upon layer of watery worlds that have created a universal garden of flowers, trees and planets.
“Debussy admired his friend, poet Paul Verlaine’s whose poem “Clair de Lune” (Moonlight) provided the inspiration for Debussy’s piano masterpiece of the same name (1890). Verlaine uses the adjectives “sad and beautiful” to describe the moonlight in his poem. Debussy is reported to have said, “Music is the space between notes,” and you hear that sentiment in the openness between the first notes in the piece.

The Jardin du Monde 12″ x 12″ is the insert art for the Garden After the Storm album.

Garden After the Storm:

Opening Reception:
Friday Apr. 24, 2026
On view through June 1st
Location:
THE FOUNDRY ROOM
Address:
700 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL 60654