ARTIFICIAL: made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, especially as a copy of something natural (Oxford Dictionary). This exhibition features three artists working in different mediums but sharing in common some degree of abstraction from nature. Hans' forms are reminiscent of the architecture and geometry found in nature. Louisa is studying nature directly, but transmitting to the picture plain vivid abstractions of the landscape. Nancy is working in a multi-step creative process that concludes in a clean, plastic assemblage quite apart from the collage source material. All three artists find their first reference in the natural world which culminates into their own uniquely artificial response.

Hans Schuele

Hans’ forms are created in steel. They range broadly from organic to geometric, angular to voluptuous, large and small, brightly colored to black, white, or raw and metallic. The visual aesthetic of the sculptures tend to be light and airy, but they have all the weight and authority associated with steel. Hans’ artistic vision and sense of design is the homogenizing force that brings all these opposites together into a cohesive body of work.

Louisa Longstaff-Scales
Louisa’s paintings are an invitation to step out into “the landscape.” Her paintings re-imagine the familiar painting subject and push the experience into a new and personal domain. Her paintings are full of the energy and life one would experience outside in a large wilderness. You don’t see the wind in her brush strokes so much as you can feel it rolling over the uniquely inviting territory of her canvases. Her technique leads the eye in such a way that the universe of paint you’ve been transported to feels alive and full of movement. Standing in front of Longstaff-Scales paintings is like being presented with a new and mysterious force of nature.

Nancy Demeester
Nancy’s design background informs her art-making process. She uses magazine clippings as imagery fodder to create collages. The collage compositions serve as drawings for the final acrylic construction. The collages have all the nit and grit from the printed material, glue, and textures of photographed objects creating a busy, juxtaposition of subject material. Whereas, the final acrylic construction resembles the composition, but exists as a true abstraction of the first artwork. The final work showcases the pure essence and the elemental beauty of the drawing.