ELEMENTS: New Work by Premier Associates 

Curated by Veronica Szalus

Wednesday, March 1st through Saturday, March 25th, 2023

Four natural ELEMENTS -- earth, fire, air and water – were thought by the ancient Greeks to be the building blocks of all matter on earth. In Hinduism’s sacred literature, the inward essence of everything in the cosmos is rooted in just five essential ELEMENTS – earth, water, fire, air and space. Today, Scientists believe that all things consist of some combination of approximately 100 simple chemical ELEMENTS that make up the Periodic Table. While visual art is often considered to be the product of seven foundational ELEMENTS: line, color, shape, form, value, space and texture.  In this exhibit, seven artists offer their individual creative celebrations of and reflections on ELEMENTS of various sorts and in various forms.

Our relationships with and understandings of critical formative ELEMENTS such as these are complex and mysterious. But they sustain our lives and are a source of wonder and beauty.

Bill Bowser

Drawing from the classical elements of nature, the colors and forms in Bowser’s pastel paintings create a sense of mystery and foreboding. A few basic geometric shapes constitute the nucleus from which the structure of his compositions gradually emerge from murky surrounds. His Kübel (“simple bucket”) sculptures explore themes of threat and protection using high gloss reds and greens against a deep matte black surface.

Bob Burgess

Burgess seeks and translates the geometry and chaos in nature in his captivating close range photographic images. Discomfortingly intimate views of specimens offer a window through which we enter and plumb the depths of these natural elements along with the artist. 

Jennifer Duncan

The visual texture of leaves and patterns of light in Duncan’s paintings are among the elements that guide the viewer on a lively excursion around the surface of the canvas. Lush, wooded landscapes, often characterized by obscured or camouflaged objects create a longing to push back the branches for an unobstructed view, and a sense of intrigue as the viewer navigates their way.

Pam Frederick

Pam Frederick and Joan Mayfield use disparate geometric and organic shapes and colors as the foundational components of their abstract compositions. Discarded ephemera and forgotten wallpapers are the elements Frederick combines to depict simplified mixed media still life representations. Mayfield fuses unrelated found objects, pieces of cardboard and wooden frames to assemble three-dimensional low relief sculptures.

Joan Mayfield

Kim Bursic

And Bursic’s mixed media paintings speak to an inward space. Using the elements of shape, color and texture, she draws the viewer into a visually disjointed conversation. The prints illustrate the essence of disruption and interruption by combining and fusing two separate series of art together, locking them in a flow of conflict and cohesion. 

Alan Lipton

Finally, bold colors and simple forms are the essential visual elements of Lipton’s abstract paintings, starting with a drawing and then incorporating a heroic-like figure interacting with and engaging in the drama of the canvas. Lipton says, “Everyone needs heroes, and often we are our own best heroes."