The sun has been romanticized, ritualized and symbolized. Both intimate and abundant, it is our primary measure of time. The Sun Touches Everything features 15 artists whose work bridges abstraction and representation, evoking emotions that range from fear to longing, at times tipping into sensory overload. Piercing the dense mountain fog of David Utiger's paintings, the sun works with quiet determination to give light to the secret places, the untouched and wild parts of Appalachia. Krista Dedrick-Lai's jarring neon palette both reveals and obscures the path forward as a mother cradles her child, illuminated from within as she wades through a swirling vortex of painterly darkness. Ric Santon's sweetly nostalgic work transports us into the back seat of our most worn-down roads, forehead pressed to the window, tracing tender messages onto a glass dripping with condensation. Nancy Friedland's paintings masterfully delineate the darkness by placing her sun off-frame, acting as a siren, calling its lone swimmer deeper into the water. While deceptively simple, what ties these works together is a collective approach that is frontally and unapologetically delightful. The Sun Touches Everything speaks to our innate, shared impulse to lift our faces upwards, warmth seeping through us, riveting us to be present, capturing us in pleasure.
-Danielle Winger
