SMITH & VALLEE | Exhibits

Painting with hair picks, meat forks and chopsticks, Joules impresses a sensory memory of natural landscapes. O’Neill presents bold and beautiful textures, laid upon unexpected ceramic form.

Kris Ekstrand is presenting her delicately abstracted landscapes and a continuation of her vibrant and energetic portraits of bird nests. Created in her studio on the banks of the Edison Slough in the Skagit Valley. Ekstrand’s paintings walk a line between abstraction and representation, skillfully drifting between the two. Marceil DeLacy presents her hand-carved wooden sculptures, expertly carved and finely finished. Her work makes one contemplate the human connection to the animal world. In this exhibition DeLacy introduces surprising new subject matter.

David Eisenhour delves into the difficult challenge that the use of fossil fuels presents to the world, interpreting its impact with a sense of beauty and angst. Phytoplankton inspired coal dust monoprints on recycled cedar and bronze sculpture. This body of work is a continuation of his dialogue. In the words of Eisenhour, “We are all part of a Carbon Dialogue. Carbon is a common element of all known life. Carbon, millions of years of life, has been released into our atmosphere in a relatively short period of time. Most of this body of work alludes to the oversized impact climate change has on our oceans. Much of this work leaves room for personal interpretation.

Hart James presents her first major exhibition at Smith & Vallee, with abstract oil and charcoal paintings that speak to the energy and power of the natural world. Jan Hoy returns to Smith & Vallee Gallery with her deceptively simple, yet extraordinarily elegant and complex sculptures. The work of these two artists, on one level may seem quite different, however, there are many connections that bind the two. They are interpreting the natural world through the lens of abstraction, using earth-toned pallets with a palpable reverence for the intrinsic beauty of our world.