The Nature of Things

"The Nature of Things" The Mike Kelley Gallery invited three artists to celebrate "The Nature of Things." In a world currently filled with uncertainties the attention to 'all things Nature' allows us a freedom of, and connection to the differences in our world. Each day we are called on to make choices about how to live, to be. A showing-up for the not so simple phenomena of the physical world, landscapes, animals, plants; the not so easy human condition man-made structures, social rules; and the never superficial inherent beauty of things-their sense of magic. Each with a language of its own when perception gets a hold on our soul, and we can't look away from what they demand of us. Art has a way of saving "things" from extinction, even if it's just a simple, easy, depth of a new color, sound, distraction from-there is nothing so compelling when it comes to an artistic view. Gallery A: Lillian Abel, "Energy" Gallery B: Tracey Weiss, "Metamorphosis" Gallery C: Karrie Ross, "Balance & Flow" Gallery A: Lillian Abel "Energy" My work depicts Nature, however, it is made in my studio from memory, impulse and emotions. They are abstracted by the palette knife, searching for hidden worlds and images in the paint that reveal on the picture plane. They need to be uncovered, stroked, massaged and moved onto the surface, brought up from where they are hiding; surprising me with their ability to come forth when called by my hand. Revealing the recognized of our 'world sight' as unrecognizable, opening the eye of the witness to the experienced memory of the coalescence of fierceness and delicacy in the wilderness. Beginning from the darkness, moving to find hidden worlds that lay just beyond the edge of our awareness, calling the unexplored knowledge of the unseen. Gallery B: Tracey Weiss "Metamorphosis" is an investigation into the innate cycle of nature, as well as our own society. Seasons, life cycles, survival of the fittest: these are all terms we come to know as relating to wildlife, ecology, and the natural world around us. These terms also play an important role in our man-made world of industry, advancement, and even sociology. While 35mm slides left the mainstream in the late 1970s as every household's record of their summer vacation, slide film had an extended life in the art world and academia. Artists' portfolios were captured in slides well into the late 1990's and even into the early 21st century for some. Since the digital film has taken over, slide portfolios and slide libraries have been collecting dust in artist studios and educational institutions everywhere. In the work in "Metamorphosis," viewers are invited to view these miniature, framed images as objects unto themselves, evolving from an outdated photography medium to a new sculpture medium. Gallery C: Karrie Ross "Balance & Flow" continues the questions for how exposure to higher vibrations, deep thinking, and taking actions are able to twist perception and create the ability to make conscious choices affecting personal growth. Art is a powerful influencer. Art that encourages choice creates a kinetic pull in such a way that it takes the action of 'walking away' from it to realize something changed and a safe place using space/time experiences now exists. "Balance & Flow" presents the experience of the "letting go" in her abstract paintings, paired with the introspection of her 3D figurative installation on the 5 Elements- together offering choices and reflection of 'what is' and 'what's next'-as a rock is to a stream, intentionally balancing conflict-allowing a sense of magic, inherent beauty.