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Grief, like water, takes the shape of its container. In her debut solo show at Grüna Gallery,  Poison in the Water, Castine uses water as a metaphor for different experiences of loss. The feelings are fluid, always flowing through her, at times cold and clear and others dark and murky.

For a young Castine, the tragedy of losing a loved one precipitated a premature loss of innocence. To this day, the experience colors her world blue and informs her artistic practice. In careful brush strokes and delicate pastel, she explores the depths of her grief through a keen cinematic lens, drawing from her love of film and photography.

Presently, the artist finds herself in a world of material wealth, as in the painting Water, Water Every Where, where overpriced designer water is packaged as life giving or affirming. She is quick to learn that these temptations are only surface deep, ultimately devaluing self worth, and exacerbating the anxiety of young adulthood.

Lily Castine (b. 2000) graduated with a BA in Studio Art from the University of Saint Francis in Fort Wayne, IN. Her paintings explore growing up in the Midwest with grief, fear, and love as part of the lived female experience in a patriarchal society. The works aim to confront the viewer with visual tension and emotion, framed by references from pop culture, film, and her own memories. Interested in different modes of storytelling, she draws inspiration from a wide variety of genre giants, citing David Lynch, Amy Bennett, Cindy Sherman, and Gregory Crewdson.