With Rain Comes

"With Rain Comes" focuses on the fruits of rain and transitioning seasons. Featuring artists Dana Oldfather, Lee Herring, Sally West, and Toshee, this show delves into the varying interpretations of landscape painting; whether that be an abstraction of a fleeting moment, an impasto impression of daylight on water, or a study of nature in layers.

In Dana Oldfathers work, fantasy and obligation charge and bind domestic environments, giving memories new form. Restless bodies at play entwine and pile up in dreamy, hallucinogenic landscapes. The figures’ limbs are clumsy and awkward as they poke out of the pile in an attempt to assert autonomy. Wet into wet oil marks tie these forms together. Color and form create joyful moments and frenetic marks remind us of the effort and strain it takes to bring those moments about.

Lee Herring is a contemporary painter specializing in vibrant, textured, and abstract landscapes that convey fleeting moments; country strolls, textiles, posters, transportation, and other quotidian objects and locations rendered fantastic by the hand of the artist. Lee’s energetic works are inspired by everyday moments and memories as he captures these ephemeral spaces within the context of a spontaneous, dreamlike landscape.

Sally West's work consists of texture, abstraction and calming colors. The movement of the paint strokes on canvas is reminiscent of a light breeze or waves. This is communicated even more clearly through the use of pastel and delicate shades of color in her artworks’ backgrounds. Overall, West’s color palette is very uniquely her own and conveys a very specific feeling of comfort associated with vague familiarity and softness.

Toshee studied art and graphic design at Harvard under the late Toshihiro Katayama. He has long been fascinated by maps, topographical representations, and diagrams representing what lies under the surface of the earth. The resulting surfaces are transformed by the application of resin, which allows the viewer to visually excavate the piece. Taken as a whole, the sedimentary elements are compressed by the layering process, storing that force as energy that the viewer can unleash by engaging the piece up close.