On April 25, Blue Rain Gallery will feature the raw beauty of the American landscape and wilderness through the eyes of painter Matthew Sievers and sculptor Bryce Pettit. Combined, these two talents create quite the emotional journey while also “celebrating movement, texture and light—an homage to the wilderness and the wondrous,” says Leah Garcia, marketing director for the gallery.
Matthew Sievers, Achieving New Heights, oil on wood panel, 72 x 36 in.
For the exhibition, titled Nature & Emotion: Sculpting the Elements, Painting the Light, we see both artist’s bringing together their own unique visions into their respective medium. “Sculpture is about creating with shadows and light using form and texture,” shares Pettit. “The raised surfaces of bronze reflect light and crevices create shadow. This interplay is how the composition is made, and the eye of the viewer is directed. Matt uses high contrast colors and dramatic lighting to do the same. This use of strong composition is one thing we have in common.”
Bryce Pettit, April, bronze with patinas, ed. of 30, 13½ x 16 x 12 in.
Pettit also adds that another similarity between the two is their use of texture to convey emotion. “Hard and sharp lines create excitement or drama, and smoother edges and transitions to evoke peace or quietude,” he adds. “My ongoing goal with my art is to make you feel something. I am continually striving to refine this ability and create the connections that make us human.”
Pettit will present several new bird sculptures for the show, including a new duck piece, April. Collectors can also expect to find new additions to Pettit’s wall-hanging sculpture series, like his fish wall display, Wishing Well.Pettit says of the piece, “I always think of silvery minnows as an embodiment of a wish; bright flashes dropped in water like coin dropped in a wishing well.”
Bryce Pettit, Wishing Well, bronze with patinas, single fish 1½ x 4 in.
Sievers notes that his current body of work is very fresh, and he’s using many transparent layers to create atmosphere in addition to abstraction. “I want the viewer to be inspired with their own creativity as they look at my painting,” he says. “I’m using vague geometric shapes where you would expect an organic form, like a bush or the edge of a cloud. Stacking them thinly over top of each other and shifting like a memory. These square cloud shapes, low on a horizon, can have the viewer imagining it being a distant hill or a plateau.”
We see this play out in paintings Achieving New Heights and Thriving in the Desert, a reflection of Sievers’ moments in nature with his family. “[It’s about] getting away from the busy day-to-day and having a peaceful moment as we talk to the person closest to us about our hopes, dreams and troubles,” says Sievers. “So many of my paintings are inspired by the memories that I have made with my family and the emotions that I have felt—emotions worth conveying to my collectors.”
Matthew Sievers, Thriving in the Desert, oil on wood panel, 60 x 30 in.
The show will open with an artist’s reception at Blue Rain Gallery’s Santa Fe, New Mexico, location on April 25, from 5 to 7 p.m. The show closes May 6. —
Blue Rain Gallery 544 S. Guadalupe Street » Santa Fe, NM 87501 » (505) 954-9902 » www.blueraingallery.com
Powered by Froala Editor
