Exhibition Details:
- Dates: February 12 – March 30, 2026
- Opening Reception: February 21, 4:30 – 6:00 pm: Meet the artists and enjoy a first look at the exhibition. Free and open to the public.
- Channel Islands Maritime Museum, 3900 Bluefin Circle, Oxnard
- Museum Hours: Thursday–Monday, 12–4 PM
The Channel Islands Maritime Museum presents La Aqua Vida, a joint exhibition by artists Thomas Hardcastle and Carmen Lamp, whose contrasting yet complementary visions explore the emotional, environmental, and poetic dimensions of ocean life. Through vivid marine paintings and luminous shoreline pastels, the artists reveal the profound dialogue between the world below the surface and the world we inhabit above it.
Hardcastle brings viewers into the fluid, expressive realm of underwater motion. His featured work, “War and Peace”, a 24×36 oil painting selected for the 2024 Artists for Conservation (AFC) Exhibition in Vancouver, BC, and included in the exhibition’s hardcover book, reflects the tension and serenity found in the natural world. “That underwater world is so different from ours — movements are more fluid, and surreal scenes are more common. I’m always balancing the awe of nature with the emotional truth of the creatures I paint,” says Hardcastle. His orca painting “SuperCruisers“ similarly merges scientific influence with expressive interpretation, capturing space, calm, and the quiet power of marine movement.
Lamp’s soft-pastel works offer a luminous counterpoint, opening a window to the meditative rhythms of the shore. Through shifting light, reflection, and atmosphere, her pieces — including “Curlew’s Reflections” — evoke the emotional resonance of coastal landscapes. “Every piece is a discovery. I paint to honor the places that inspire me, and I hope the viewer feels even a trace of what I felt when I first experienced the scene,” Lamp explains.
Together, Hardcastle and Lamp reveal a world shaped by tides, depth, and light — a world whose beauty and vulnerability are inseparable. La Aqua Vida invites audiences to reflect on the intertwined ecosystems that define our coasts and seas, and the profound presence the ocean holds in our lives. www.cimmvc.org. Phone: 805-984-6260.
