Objects Above Us
Perception, Orientation, and Visual Ambiguity
The Objects Above Us series considers how we register phenomena that occupy the overhead field of vision — from celestial forms to atmospheric presence — and how these experiences interact with memory, context, and perception. Rather than depicting identifiable objects, the works explore shifts in perceptual thresholds, inviting the viewer to reflect on how visual ambiguity and spatial orientation shape lived experience.
Through layered abstraction and modulation of surface, the paintings engage with the tension between presence and uncertainty. Variations in scale, contrast, and spatial suggestion prompt the viewer to negotiate depth and direction without recourse to fixed representation. In this way, the series foregrounds visual attention as an active process, one shaped by prior experience, environmental position, and moment-to-moment perceptual negotiation.
While informed by an ongoing practice of sustained observation, the work does not illustrate scientific phenomena; it instead harnesses formal strategies to explore how perception constructs meaning in and beyond the visible field.
In Light – Rainbows #1–3 (2023), Montoya engages chromatic variation and subtle shifts in luminosity to activate conditions of perceptual recall. Rather than depict specific recollections, the works draw attention to how transient visual phenomena — light dispersion, spectral suggestion, and surface modulation — can resonate with a viewer’s own experiential associations. Through calibrated abstraction, these paintings invite sustained visual attention, encouraging a reflective encounter with how luminous form and color may evoke, disrupt, or refract personal experience and memory.
Light - Rainbow #3 (2023)
Oil on Canvas, 18in x 24in x 1.5in
Light - Rainbow #2 (2023)
Oil on Canvas, 18in x 24in x 1.5in
Light - Rainbow #1 (2023)
Oil on Canvas, 18in x 24in x 1.5in
In Lights – Clouds #2 and #3 (2024), Montoya extends the Objects Above Us series through an engagement with clouds as a pervasive yet often overlooked presence within the visual field. Rather than depicting specific atmospheric conditions, the paintings approach clouds as perceptual and experiential phenomena — forms that quietly shape orientation, light, and attention across both interior and exterior spaces.
Through abstraction and tonal modulation, the works emphasize subtle shifts in luminosity and spatial ambiguity, reflecting the indirect ways environmental conditions register within perception. Clouds function here not as symbols, but as catalysts for visual attentiveness, prompting consideration of how everyday atmospheric elements influence experience without demanding conscious recognition.
In continuity with Light – Rainbows #1–3 (2023), these paintings engage memory not as narrative recall, but as a residue of perception—formed through repeated encounters with familiar yet variable conditions. The series invites sustained viewing, foregrounding how environmental presence and perceptual response intersect within lived experience.
Light - Clouds #2 (2024)
Oil on Canvas, 18in x 24in x 1.5in
Light - Clouds #3 (2024)
Oil on Canvas, 36in x 48in x 1.5in