Pennsylvania-based artist Laura Duerwald incorporates organic materials from her environment to create densely layered compositions of muslin and paint. Her patterned strokes of paint accumulate across the surface of her work like branches evoking a tactile sense of place and atmosphere. California-based artist Carmen McNall’s work balances intricate patterns and textured mark making bound by organic shapes. Her practice conveys a dialogue on the relationship between people, their environments, and what inherently fastens us to our surroundings and examines the empowering qualities these places retain. South Carolina-based artist Kit Porter uses thin washes of vibrant hues to generate shapes reminiscent of flowers and foliage that create a field bursting with life and energy, giving the viewer a sensory experience of abundance. Opaque paint flows between and surrounds each floral and leaf form, not only suspending the form in space, but altering the edges to create a fragment that appears to be shaped by the space around it. Together, these artists present a body of work that is conceptually based in how our physical and interpersonal environment alters and shapes our life experience.
