Transitions of Time: Mark Bowles and Ali Rouse

On Friday, September 20th, from 5pm – 7pm, Canyon Road Contemporary Art is proud to present two artists, Mark Bowles and Ali Rouse, each of whom explores color, pattern, and the passage of time in different ways. The exhibit will run through the 29th of September.

The Transitions of Time explores the effects of time on the world around us, as well as our perception and treatment of it. Who are we, so small and so transient? How can we understand the vastness of existence when our part is so small? How can we hold on to things when they inevitably pass on? These questions are integral to the human experience, no matter how impossible they may be to answer; we cannot help but try.

Mark Bowles’ large, abstracted land and sky-scapes call to mind the power and turmoil of the New Mexican skies, most often at sunset and sunrise. Though formally trained, Bowles does not like to limit himself to rules of expression, and his work will often move from representational to minimalist to abstracted, even within the same canvas. This fluidity, with his distinctive layers of color and cloud in overlapping and clear-cut planes, give his pieces their incredible dynamism in changing light; as the light source grows more powerful or dimmer, the skies in his paintings react in powerful and exciting ways. Mark’s work always calls to mind changing time, and reminds us that we are always in the inexorable flow.

Honing her art of beading since the age of twelve, artist Ali Rouse adorns real animal skulls with faceted jewels, glass, silver, snakeskin, and other surprising elements. The design work on her adorned skulls is contemporary, with their asymmetrical planes of materials, and informed by the nature of the skull. She chooses patterns and materials with utmost care to reflect the origin of the skull as well as the personality she recognizes in it. The result enhances nature’s own profound design work with grace. This practice both enhances nature’s work and also preserves and celebrates it, as Ali gives these animals a second life through her art. Though these animals no longer walk among us, their lives continue in a transformed state.

 

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