Beyond Reverie

Beyond Reverie presents a spectrum of surrealist works that challenge rational norms and open up space for the unexpected. The artists in this exhibition use a variety of processes and mediums—blends of wood and bronze, ceramic and writing, oil and canvas, leather and horsehair, and repurposed fur and brass. They share an affinity for material and utilize the act of making to access the power of the unconscious. The works call upon the investigation of memory, provoking the audience to contemplate the intersection of dream and reality.

Anthony Padilla is a self-taught painter who blends abstraction, realism and surrealism. He uses color and depictions of flora and fauna to transport the viewer into new spaces, ones that reclaim his Latinx identity. Similarly, Jonny Alexander paints surreal compositions that juxtapose landscapes with manufactured objects—blurring the line between natural and industrial worlds.

Multidisciplinary artists De Lara, Aegerter and Hansen explore their chosen materials, in this exhibition primarily wood, with great attention to detail and craft. De Lara’s sculptures depict forms inspired by flora, furniture and architecture. His work asks the viewer to question ideas around immigrant and queer experiences by using a hybrid mixture of Mexican/American cultural references, and function. Aegerter’s work combines traditional techniques in wood, paper, and metal with digital fabrication processes. Her abstract sculptures, inspired by the physicality of landscapes and unique textures of geology, are portraits of the moments her body and her being meld with the world. Hansen uses a natural palette blending wood, ceramic, metal, leather, and repurposed materials to create imaginary characters that ignite curiosity and welcome us into an unknown realm.

Nori Pao will be exhibiting a new suite of poems etched into ceramic tablets. The gesture of combining clay with text grants permanence to a new writing practice, born from cultivating her connection to the unconscious. Although a series, these tablets are inherently unique. The clay records the process of the making and the words become witness marks to experience.