Theresa Chromati

I Met You in the Haze

Through saturated color, layered surfaces, and the presence of a central female figure, Chromati explores the body as a site of agency, resilience, and transformation. This figure is proud, evolving, and continually unfolding, moving between fragmentation and wholeness while serving as a vessel through which questions of memory, identity, and becoming are held. 

The project marks a new direction in Chromati’s practice through its sustained engagement with her Guyanese lineage and the literary legacy of her great-uncle, Martin Carter (1927–1997), one of Guyana’s most significant poets and political voices. Drawing from a range of texts, including Carter’s Poems of Affinity, 1978–1980 (1980), Chromati initiates a call-and-response between ancestral language and her own newly composed affirmations. This intergenerational exchange creates a space where inherited histories, personal reflection, and the artist’s evolving visual language of figurative abstraction converge.  

Chromati presents her paintings within custom-built freestanding wooden structures that extend the works beyond the traditional boundaries of the canvas. Engraved with her affirmations, these sculptural frameworks operate as extensions of the paintings, bringing image, language, and material into dialogue. Rather than illustrating literary sources, I Met You in the Haze activates them as sites of reflection. The project transforms inherited words into a contemporary visual encounter with ancestry, cultural memory, and the ongoing formation of self. 

Theresa Chromati (b. 1992) is a Guyanese American artist born and based in Baltimore, Maryland. Her figurative abstract paintings explore the complexities of the feminine experience, addressing emotional resilience, sensuality, vulnerability, and strength. Extending into sculpture, Chromati incorporates symbolic “scrotum flowers” that represent spiritual balance and support within shared realms. Her multidisciplinary practice is recognized for its vibrant color, movement, controlled chaos, and sensuous textures.  

Chromati has presented solo exhibitions at Jessica Silverman (San Francisco), VETA by Fer Francés (Madrid), and Tureen (Dallas). Her first European institutional exhibition was held at CAC Málaga in 2024 and followed by a solo exhibition at Massimo De Carlo Pièce Unique (Paris) in 2025. Chromati’s group exhibitions include Frieze Sculpture at Regent’s Park in London; collaborations with David Zwirner and Performance Space; and The Extreme Present, co-organized by Jeffrey Deitch and Gagosian. Chromati’s work is held in the collections of major institutions including Pérez Art Museum Miami, the Rubell Museum, and the Baltimore Museum of Art.