Paulina Peavy: Ether Beam

March 10 – June 10, 2027

Further Triennial

San Francisco Historical Society

A presentation of rarely seen paintings, masks, and films by the boundary-pushing spiritualist Paulina Peavy

Further Afield

A vertical painting depicting a stylized human face merged with nature. A dark green mask-like face with glowing turquoise highlighting around the nose and upper lip fills the lower center. Above the face, a stylized, cream-colored lily flower bloom forms the shape of a large, wide-open eye. Inside the central hollow of the bloom, a small, silhouetted human figure is nestled within warm red and gold light, while long, wavy dark green leaves flank the entire composition.

San Francisco Historical Society

608 Commercial StreetSan Francisco, CA 94111

Public transportation options include BART (Montgomery Street Station), Muni (#1 California or #8 Bayshore), Cable Car (California Street link), or nearby parking garages (Portsmouth Square, California Street).

Chinatown, Financial District, Union Square, Waterfront

Thursday–Saturday 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

Free with ticket

Partially ADA accessible. Our museum features a barrier-free entrance, accessible restrooms, floor access by elevator, and clear gallery pathways designed to accommodate wheelchairs, scooters, and strollers.

Ether Beam presents paintings, masks, and films by the boundary-pushing modernist Paulina Peavy. The exhibition is grounded in one of Peavy’s paintings for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, held on Treasure Island, which she mounted in the Temple of Religion. In this body of work, ostensibly biblical portraits betrayed an interplanetary vision of a “cosmic race,” with gender-fluid figures cast as veiled, vaporous spirits. Peavy understood her work to be guided by Lacamo, a celestial being, and considered herself a vessel or medium “attuned to ether beams of higher worlds.” But the androgyny of her figures also posed a critique of the West’s violent sexism and implies the role that Judeo-Christian doctrine played in patriarchal domination. She maintained a conviction that civilization would one day reach the “one gender perfection” augured in her work.

Alongside paintings, Ether Beam presents a series of Peavy’s ornate masks—festooned with buttons, gems, beads, and tassels—which facilitated the artist’s contact with Lacamo, as well as films from the 1980s, made after Peavy’s relocation to New York, which she undertook as educational elaborations on the universe’s “terrible and wonderful mystery.”

Paulina Peavy: Ether Beam includes an introductory text by Laura Whitcomb.

Exhibiting Artists

Paulina Peavy

A symmetrical mask shaped out of bright green textured material, resembling abstract wings or a structured bow, embellished with scattered tiny white dots and metallic stick-like beads. Placed directly over the center brow are three large, faceted dark blue teardrop gemstones arranged in a cluster. Cascading vertically from the center of the mask is a long, multi-strand fringe made of tiny blue glass beads, flanked on each side by a dense, elongated tassel of shimmering silver seed beads.

A square painting featuring a heavily stylized face peering out from behind fluid, kinetic layers. At the absolute center, a human face is partially visible through a dense web of fiery red, orange, and yellow skeletal lines. One prominent, realistic brown human eye gazes forward with a intense expression. Overlapping the face are thick, semi-translucent ribbons of pale ice-blue, cream, and silver paint that swirl in a sweeping circular motion, resembling glowing mist or unfolding cosmic petals. The outer background darkens into deep moss greens, browns, and blacks, accented by thin, wispy tendrils of bright yellow and red that trail off into the dark canvas corners.

A landscape format painting. At the center sits a large, vibrant royal blue teardrop or egg shape, nested within swirling, fluid waves of bright turquoise blue and dark olive green. Curving black line-art silhouettes, suggesting organic forms or cupped hands, outline the inner contours of the design against a white backdrop. The composition is tightly enclosed by a dark, soft-edged brown or olive gradient border that hugs the canvas edges.

An ornate, butterfly-shaped masquerade mask sits isolated against a solid white background. The mask is primarily crafted from a dusty rose pink fabric, outlined with dark, intricate metallic lace trim that forms pointed crests along the top edge. Black sequins are stitched in swirling patterns across the face of the mask, framing the two eye cutouts. A large, amber-colored gemstone sits directly between the eyes, accented by smaller dark beads. Suspended from the bottom of the mask is a dense fringe of long, metallic gold beads that hangs straight down, creating a shimmering veil. A single, dark brown fabric tassel hangs down the center of the gold fringe, and two small, woven gold beaded ornaments dangle from the lower corners of the mask's wings.

An abstract painting features concentric, organic rings of vibrant color radiating from a central luminous core, signed in the bottom right corner as "paulina peavy". At the center sits a bright yellow oval enveloped by a larger crimson red circle, resembling a glowing cell or celestial body. Moving outward, the central forms are ringed by wavy, stylized bands of black, deep forest green, and earthy red-brown. The entire composition is framed by soft, cloud-like brushstrokes of deep blue and bright turquoise along the left, top, and right edges, all set against a clean off-white background that emphasizes the fluid shapes.

Paulina Peavy, Green Blue 16, nd. Mixed media, 14 ½ x 8 ½ x ½ in. © Paulina Peavy Estate. Photo courtesy Paulina Peavy Estate

Exhibition Support

Support for Further Afield is generously provided by the Rappaport Family Foundation.

Further Triennial

Further Afield projects are curated by Further Triennial’s Director Zully Adler. They highlight Northern California’s long history of underground, offbeat, and vernacular forms of art making.

San Francisco Historical Society

The San Francisco Historical Society was founded by renowned San Francisco historian Charles Fracchia in 1988. The organization preserves, presents, and promotes the city’s history, arts, and culture for the past, present, and future.

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