McNichol Gallery is hosting "Seeking Spirit in the World," a solo exhibition of abstract paintings by Delaware artist RitaMarie Cimini. The exhibition opened January 29 and runs through March 17, 2026, with an opening reception on Saturday, February 14, from 2-4 p.m.

The exhibition features twelve recent paintings that explore the intersection of meditation, nature observation, and abstract painting. Through vibrant, layered compositions ranging from intimate 20x20-inch works to major 48x60-inch pieces, Cimini examines how sustained attention transforms perception and reveals the sacred within the ordinary.

"I seek spirit not by turning away from the physical world but by looking more deeply into it," says Cimini. "Through decades of meditation practice, I've learned that pure, undivided attention reveals the sacred hidden within the ordinary. A water lily becomes a portal. Spring's arrival becomes an explosion. The rhythm of breath becomes visible as energy, light, and consciousness itself."

The exhibition includes work from Cimini's ongoing exploration of underwater botanical forms—paintings like "Where Water Remembers" and "Gossamer Wings" that emerged from fifteen years of photographing water gardens.

Other pieces examine more intense natural phenomena: "Pentecost" and "Fire and Bloom" explore fire as transformer and the creative destruction that makes renewal possible, while "Music Fills the Sky" investigates synesthesia and how color can become sound.

Cimini's technical process mirrors her meditative practice. Each painting builds through multiple layers of oil glazing over acrylic underpainting, creating depths that require weeks or months to complete. She burnishes, scores, sands back, and builds up again, allowing the paintings to reveal themselves gradually. This conversation between intention and discovery, control and surrender, forms the core of her artistic practice.

An MFA graduate from Bennington College, Cimini served as president of Studio Montclair from 2016-2019 and is a member of the National Association of Women Artists. Her work is held in permanent collections including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Atlantic Health Systems, and MC Hotel. She writes regularly on art, meditation, and consciousness.

The exhibition is curated by Professor Glenn E. Holmstrom, MFA, and is open during regular gallery hours, Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.