WHAT REMAINS AFLOAT
An Exhibition by Dean Katica
Exhibition Dates: September 30 – October 11
Location: Provincetown Commons
46 Bradford Street
Provincetown, MA 02657
Opening Reception
Friday, October 2
5 PM – 7 PM
Gallery Hours
Monday – Friday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Saturday & Sunday: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
What Remains Afloat grew from a recurring image in Dean H. Katica’s work: the solitary boat.
Small against an expansive sea and sky, the boat becomes more than a vessel. It becomes a metaphor for human vulnerability and, particularly, for innocence confronted by forces vastly larger than itself. It carries the emotional foundation of this body of work: grief mixed with empathy, helplessness, and a stubborn desire for hope.
There is fragility in these paintings, but rarely surrender. The boat keeps floating.
The exhibition asks what remains when circumstances beyond our control strip away safety, certainty, home, and the ordinary rhythms of life. What remains of innocence? What remains of our humanity? And when confronted with the suffering of others—particularly children and civilians caught in armed conflict—what do we do with the helplessness we feel?
For Katica, What Remains Afloat is an attempt to transform some of that helplessness into action. Proceeds from the sale of works in the exhibition will be donated to World Central Kitchen, supporting its humanitarian work providing food and relief to people affected by the humanitarian emergency in Gaza, Palestine.
The danger faced by those carrying out this amazing work was brought into devastating focus on April 1, 2024, when an Israeli military strike in Gaza killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers. WCK temporarily suspended its operations following their deaths before returning to Gaza and continuing its efforts to provide meals to Palestinians in need.
What Remains Afloat is ultimately not an exhibition about despair. It is about what survives it: empathy, human connection, resilience, and the stubborn persistence of HOPE.
The little red boat remains afloat.
Artist Bio
Dean H. Katica is a contemporary artist whose work explores color, atmosphere, memory, and the quiet emotional narratives found in everyday moments. His paintings move between figurative work, landscape, and still life, combining expressive brushwork, rich texture, abstraction, and unexpected color to create images that feel both familiar and dreamlike.
Recurring imagery - solitary boats, coastal landscapes, architecture, and reflections—becomes a visual language for exploring solitude, connection, resilience, vulnerability, and belonging. Beneath the beauty and often luminous color of Katica’s work lies a deeper emotional current: grief mixed with empathy, helplessness, and a stubborn desire for hope.
Turquoise, cadmium red, and luminous contrasts form a recognizable visual language throughout his work. Rather than simply depicting a scene, Katica seeks to capture the feeling that remains after the moment has passed—the tension between beauty and sorrow, vulnerability and resilience, helplessness and hope.
