RENEWED | Wendy Westlake

Minnesota-based artist Wendy Westlake’s new body of work investigates the layered and complex visual language between artist and nature. Throughout her career, Westlake has returned to the natural world as inspiration, and over a decade ago, it served as a catalyst for her venture into vibrant, large-scale botanical abstractions.

In her current show, Westlake’s paintings are often inspired by the changing seasons, especially the long-awaited transition from winter’s lingering chill to spring’s renewal and vitality of spring. Instead of portraying the cold, merciless grip of winter in her paintings, Westlake offers viewers a vivid promise of spring’s return, as her abstract forms and palettes conjure warmth, growth and renewal. Organic imagery in many of her works suggest blossoming trees and branches, sprouting plants, lush vegetation, dense foliage, and vibrant flowers in bloom.

This thematic focus on aspiration and transformation ultimately informed the title of the exhibition, RENEWED. Westlake writes: Daylight hours dwindle, and the air grows colder, signaling that winter is just around the corner. I often find these gray frozen months challenging. Lake swims, bike rides and walks through lush green forests feel like an impossibility. Having seen the cycle repeat itself over and over again, I wait, trusting that the rest and dormancy of this season are a necessary mystery. What appears lifeless will be renewed.

Gallery Hours:
Thursdays + Fridays 11:30-3
Saturdays 12-4
And by appointment

Image: Wendy Westlake with her painting, Vivified, acrylic on raw canvas, 65” x 50”