Artist Talk: Summer Exposure Session 6

Summer Exposure \| Session 6 Clair Gaston \| Leslie Kell \| Laura Sturtz Opening Reception: Saturday, August 22, 5-7 Artist Talk: Sunday, August 30, 3pm . Clair Gaston thrives on meticulous study of botanical forms, capturing grand and intimate landscapes, and connecting with her environment. Through oil paint or colored pencil, she creates art that slows the viewer’s gaze and invites close observation. She is drawn to the quiet intelligence of plants, the subtle shifts of light in a landscape, and the poetry found in ordinary objects. Working carefully and attentively, she aims to honor nature as something we are continually in conversation with—encouraging a renewed sense of connection.

Leslie Kell’s work synthesizes drawing, design, and photography through a layered, constructed process. She begins with organic forms—textures and patterns observed in the natural world—and builds environments where photographic imagery is embedded within drawn space. She is interested in perception as a fluid act—how we see, remember, and assign meaning. Light functions as both revealer and veil, as text, image, and motion converge to blur the line between observation and invention.

Laura Sturtz assembles fragments— pieces that are incomplete on their own but together form a unified whole. Each composition is a dynamic convergence of elements she has made, altered, or found. She uses recycled and reclaimed materials, valuing their histories as essential components of the narrative. Sturtz approaches artmaking as a form of exploration and play, believing that life is too short to repeat the same gesture endlessly. This principle drives her to experiment across formats, shifting fluidly between geometric and organic forms, and often developing multiple bodies of work simultaneously.