In David Ivan Clark’s works, landscape is implied. His layers of oil hint at nature as a tangible object and at the same time assert the abstract idea of paradise. He credits the plains of western Canada, where he grew up, as a strong influence on his work.
Emily Payne is also interested in the dialectic of nature and man-made materials. Comprised of gouache layered over X-Acto knife marks, her works are reminiscent of ocean waves. Other pieces incorporate wire sculptures as well as the shadows they cast in paint on paper. Each piece has an ethereal quality, suggesting something more than the immediately visible.
Kerri Lee Johnson, like Clark and Payne, is influenced by surroundings, both natural and manufactured, historical and fantastical. The figures in Johnson’s drawings are part of a fanciful society where ceremonial rituals are performed.