Sara Nightingale Gallery Debuts Rose Cameron’s Dreamlike ‘Forever. For Now.’ Exhibition

Sara Nightingale Gallery will present a solo exhibition by artist Rose Cameron titled “Forever. For Now.” The show opens with a reception on Thursday, July 10, from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition delves into themes of cultural memory, identity, and the ephemeral nature of beauty through Cameron’s rich visual language of floral forms and basketweaving patterns.

Inspired by a childhood memory in the Philippines, Cameron recalls using crushed hibiscus petals to make bubble solution, blowing shimmering orbs into the tropical air with a bamboo hoop. That fleeting, joyful image is the emotional foundation of “Forever. For Now.” which pays homage to a moment in time while acknowledging its transience. The hibiscus flower — a key motif throughout the show — is central to many Philippine traditions, symbolizing purity, passion, joy, femininity, and most significantly, impermanence.

Cameron’s painting practice reflects this sensibility. She often begins with vivid imagery that she later conceals or partially erases, leaving only outlines or residual traces. The process echoes memory itself: vibrant at first, but ultimately incomplete, leaving space for reflection and reinterpretation.

“Concealment and rediscovery are essential to my work,” Cameron has said. “It’s how I make peace with what’s been lost, and how I connect with what remains.”

Born in Manila in 1965, Cameron spent her early years in the Philippines before moving to the United States. She studied art history and fine arts at Rutgers University, later building a successful career in advertising, marketing, and fashion. Her return to painting marked a personal and creative turning point — one that allowed her to reconnect with her roots and express her identity as a Filipina American artist. She is now based in Sag Harbor.

Cameron’s work has been shown widely across the United States and internationally, with exhibitions at the National Museum of Singapore and Museum Pasifika in Indonesia. She has also received recognition from the Pinacothèque Museum in Luxembourg and is represented by galleries in New York, Jakarta, and Manila. Her work is included in both private and institutional collections, including embassies and universities.

“Forever. For Now.” is as much a tribute to the artist’s cultural inheritance as it is a meditation on the impermanence of beauty.

“A child instinctively knows what adults often forget: that wonder does not linger,” Cameron writes in her artist statement. “It flashes, brilliant and brief — until it’s gone.”

Sara Nightingale Gallery is located at 26 Main Street, Sag Harbor. More information is available at saranightingale.com.