www.heathergaudiofineart.com

Heather Gaudio Fine Art is pleased to present Patrick Alston: Apertures, his first solo exhibition at the gallery.The new paintings featured in the show continue the artist’s signature vocabulary that focuses on a visual exploration of color and gesture.The show will open with a public reception on May 2^nd, 4 -6pm, and runs through June 13^th.

“Patrick Alston’s paintings ask something genuine of the viewer — they require engagement, attention, stillness and a willingness to sit with uncertainty. That kind of work is rare, and we are honored to be able provide that viewing experience to audiences here in the gallery,” states Heather Gaudio.

Apertures builds from an understanding of perception as something both deeply personal and collectively shared, shaped through gesture, color, and accumulated layers that hold traces of time, decision, and revision. These are echoed by the philosopher Alan Watts’ statement: “you are an aperture through which the universe looks out.”

Alston’s process begins in a state that is largely uncontrolled, with initial washes that move across the surface without a fixed image in mind.The artist establishes a palette and a loose sense of composition through instinct rather than intention. These early moments carry a degree of chance, where the painting is not yet defined but full of potential. From there, the work is gradually refined. Marks are added, obscured, reworked, and adjusted over time, as the painting moves between uncertainty and clarity.This process mirrors something fundamental about lived experience. “We enter the world without authorship over our initial conditions, shaped by circumstance, environment, and forces outside of our control. Over time, through action, reflection, and resistance, those conditions are negotiated and reformed,” states Alston. The paintings hold that tension between what is given and what is made, where randomness and intention remain in constant dialogue.

Each canvas holds a finite experience. There are limits in its dimensions, in the number of gestures it can contain, in the layers it can sustain before reaching a point of resolution. The painting arrives at a kind of conclusion, a boundary that cannot be exceeded. In this way, each work echoes the conditions of an individual life, shaped within constraints, unfolding over time, and ultimately held within a fixed span.

To enhance the viewing experience in the exhibition, the artist created a set of colorful stools intended for viewers to comfortably sit and spend time contemplating the paintings. Mounted on wheels for easy navigation around the gallery space, the seats can be moved and situated in front of each work, giving the audience the opportunity to spend as much time in front of a painting as they wish.Viewers are invited to recognize both the specificity of their own perspective and the possibility of shared experience that exists beyond it. “What we see, feel, and understand is never static, but shaped by time, memory, and context. There is a quiet sense of onism that emerges, the awareness that we are each confined to our own singular point of view.”With this slow approach to viewing the artist hopes that each work becomes a separate aperture, a distinct experience, a different set of conditions and emotional registers. Moving between them allows for a shifting perspective, an opportunity to step outside of oneself, if only momentarily.In this way, the paintings operate as both individual expressions and as part of a larger field, where meaning is not prescribed but emerges through attention, reflection and the act of looking.

Alston has been the subject of many solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries in the United States and abroad and his works are in many notable public, private and corporate collections.

Nearby Communities

State Edition

National Edition

Tai Chi Class

Tai Chi Class

NAGI Jewelers Diamond Dash

NAGI Jewelers Diamond Dash

Beach Yoga & Loving Kindness Meditation

Beach Yoga & Loving Kindness Meditation

Schooner SoundWaters Sunset Sail

Schooner SoundWaters Sunset Sail

Schooner SoundWaters Afternoon Sail

Schooner SoundWaters Afternoon Sail

60 minutes. 600 calories burned. One hot dance floor

60 minutes. 600 calories burned. One hot dance floor

ALS TDI TriState Trek

ALS TDI TriState Trek

Summer Volleyball for kids & teens

Summer Volleyball for kids & teens

Holistic Dogs Welcome

Holistic Dogs Welcome

FREE Jazzercise to celebrate National Fitness Month

FREE Jazzercise to celebrate National Fitness Month

Early Childhood Fair

Early Childhood Fair

Stamford Bike-to-Work

Stamford Bike-to-Work

Stamford Harbor Live music festival

Stamford Harbor Live music festival

Country Dance Series in North Stamford

Country Dance Series in North Stamford

$10 Introductory Trial Private

$10 Introductory Trial Private

Hip Hop Work out

Hip Hop Work out

Yoga

Yoga

Yoga

Yoga

Belly Dancing workshop

Belly Dancing workshop

Hope In Motion - Bennet Cancer Center Walk, Run, Ride

Hope In Motion - Bennet Cancer Center Walk, Run, Ride

March of Dimes March for Babies

March of Dimes March for Babies

Bedford Street Diner Odyssey of the Mind Day!

Bedford Street Diner Odyssey of the Mind Day!

Arbor Day Pruning and Tree Care Workshop

Arbor Day Pruning and Tree Care Workshop

FETCH

FETCH

Fit Factor - Cardio Blast Workout for Girls

Fit Factor - Cardio Blast Workout for Girls

Pineapple Classic 5K with Obstacles!

Pineapple Classic 5K with Obstacles!

Bryophyte Field Identification

Bryophyte Field Identification

Mill River Park Earth Day

Mill River Park Earth Day

Contradance at Stone House

Contradance at Stone House

Jimmy Locust demo/class at Stamford Family YMCA!

Jimmy Locust demo/class at Stamford Family YMCA!

8th Annual Model Ts to Mustangs Antique & Classic Car Show

8th Annual Model Ts to Mustangs Antique & Classic Car Show

Operation Muffin Top

Operation Muffin Top

Alice in Wonderland, Jr. at Rippowam

Alice in Wonderland, Jr. at Rippowam

Kundalini Yoga: Journey to the Heart Center

Kundalini Yoga: Journey to the Heart Center

Kundalini Yoga: Spring Cleaning for the Self

Kundalini Yoga: Spring Cleaning for the Self

Smingle

Smingle

FREE Yoga

FREE Yoga

JGaming Tournament

JGaming Tournament

Afterschool FUN!