It is already well established that art isn’t easy. What’s not so established is that art hurts.

That theme is being well explored in Jamie Pachino’s literate new play, Waving Goodbye, performing through February 6 at the New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. And, even if the conclusion is that art is the hurt that keeps on giving, getting to that conclusion is still a pretty engaging experience.

All of the characters in this area premiere are artists or are closely related to artists. Amanda Blue (Kristianne Kurner) is a sculptor who made a smash in the world of collectors but who lost her way, abandoned her family, and is now teetering on the edge of homelessness. Her husband, Jonathan (Jeffrey Jones), a guide for high-altitude mountain climbing expeditions, cared for their daughter, Lily (Rachael VanWormer), after Amanda’s departure, but he died during an expedition, triggering Amanda’s return to her home base. Lurking about the premises is Boggy Barry (Kyle Lucy), the son of a famous artist who also gave up making art. Boggy is handsome yet shy, and he has his eye on Lily, who he woos with a seemingly endless stream of riddles. Holding forth from her gallery in town is Perry Marshall (Amanda Morrow), who is enough of an artist to recognize the good stuff and enough of a businesswoman to know which painting to hang in the center position, even if it’s mediocre art.

The three women characters are all tormented by their emotions about their art. Amanda feels abandoned by Jonathan, her muse, and she has been running away from her art instead of confronting her pain. Lily, a budding artist, feels abandoned both by her mother and by her father’s death. She is conflicted about how or whether to express these feelings through her art. Perry is successful but frustrated by her need to sell mediocre work. She copes by drinking too much.

Meanwhile, the male characters are composed and serene. Boggy has made his peace with being abandoned by his father and wants to be Lily’s emotional rock, while Jonathan, who knew the risks of his profession, has accepted his own death, even if the women in his life have not. Both men, Boggy in particular, reminded me of the character played by the young Brad Pitt in the film, “Thelma and Louise,” the ideal of a male partner in a cold, cold, world.

Director Dana Case, along with scenic designer Tim Wallace, has given four of her characters a stage space to inhabit, and the physical space is also an emotional space. Lilly occupies center stage, while Jonathan looks down on her from his mountain top above and to her left and Boggy hops into and out of her life via a window above and to her right. Perry has her gallery space on stage right. Only Amanda has no space of her own, and she keeps intruding on the spaces of the other characters, both physically and emotionally.

It takes strong performances to navigate this tricky emotional landscape, and fortunately the NVA company is up to the task. Artistic Director Kurner, who directs far more than she acts, turns in an emotionally brave performance as Amanda, while Ms. VanWormer, who often relies on surface physical ticks to create characters, abandons those in favor of drinking deeply of the well that is Lily. Her scenes with Ms. Kurner are expertly-created emotional roller coaster rides. Mr. Jones, who played Johnny so well in ion’s Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, once again shows that he can anchor emotionally unstable women, while Ms. Morrow has both the strong and the weak sides of Perry down. The revelation of the performances is Mr. Lucy’s Boggy, however. An actor of limited professional experience, Mr. Lucy nevertheless manages a relaxed portrayal of the perfect suitor—funny, ardent, sexy, yet respectful and supportive. His easy grin and his way of jumping through his window will stay with you long after the performance ends.

In the end, Waving Goodbye doesn’t try to tie up its women’s emotional journeys neatly: emotional lives aren’t neat. But, it does come to some conclusions about how art can be made out of pain, even if the process itself is painful. And those lessons are satisfying ones.

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