Atmospheric River

"Atmospheric river?" That's like "bomb cyclone" or "polar vortex," just a term scientists made up for something that's always been around. Sure…but by that measure, every word is just a made-up term for something that's always been around. That's what we do. When confronted with something new, we name it. Onomastics is the ten-dollar word for the philosophical study of naming, though much of the field actually focuses on renaming, as its historically been a slower process, making it easier to gain insight into. You know how it goes: one word slowly dulls from overuse or negative connotation, and a synonym gradually sharpens, gaining favor and usage. A process of slow erasure. In more recent times, it's become remarkably easy for onomasticians to pinpoint the first usage of names and what forced them into being. For example, the appearance in the 1990s of high-resolution satellite imagery and advanced computer models capable of accurately mapping moisture patterns led to the coining of the term that gives this show its name. Speaking of which, there was an atmospheric river recently flowing over the Pacific Northwest (as they often do), and it dropped a good amount of rain on the roof of Sally Scopa's studio. The work isn't about it per se, but when she stepped back to assess what she'd been making, she couldn't help but see that the weather had deeply infiltrated everything. In the artist's words: "The paintings and drawings were divided into strata containing tiny, condensed beads of moisture, while the horizons in the smaller drawings had either been submerged or dissolved."