Ethereal Sculptures Amuse Visitors at Addison/Ripley Fine Art

A quick stroll past Addison/Ripley Fine Art on Wisconsin Avenue, and you may mistake it for a frame store, but once inside, beyond the mounted frames, you will find an inviting, intimate art gallery. Addison/Ripley is currently showcasing Nancy Sansom Reynolds' new series of sculptures: the second element -- stratus series, which premiered at the gallery's reception last Saturday.

In 1981, Christopher Addison and his partner Sylvia Ripley chose this specific venue because Addison said, "You can see the gallery from from the outside and also inside; I love having big picture windows, and on many nights we leave the lights on. Objects look good from different perspectives and this venue offers that." And Reynolds remarked, "It is a really good space architecturally; the works have their own little private space, but there is also open space around."

Addison and Ripley create lasting relationships with the artists whom they exhibit because the pair appreciates experiencing the evolution of the artists' work. In Reynolds' case, Addison said, "she was able to alter, in terms of material and color presentation, her objects so that people who had seen them before would see something new and people who had never seen them would be able to understand the mastery and meaning behind the artwork." Reynolds has exhibited at the gallery on three occasions. Her previous show was inspired by water, and the current collection depicts qualities of the second element: air.

Reynolds created her pieces to reflect the three years of her living in the "big sky" environment in the Southwestern U.S. desert. Using a variety of materials, including laminated plywood, cast bronze, resin and beeswax, Reynolds hopes to "capture some of the color, grandeur and glory of the Western sky." Some visitors at the reception remarked on the sculptures' feminine, Georgia O'Keefe-esque style, as the folds coax recollections of soft petals and flesh for some, but Reynolds' work does not seek to emulate O'Keefe: "My work has evolved on its own mostly from nature, which is really the source of my inspiration," she said.

Latin terms describing unique cloud formations accompany the works, according to the shape and characteristics of each. Curious shadows bathe the walls and sculptures' surfaces. Nearly all the pieces hang suspended on the wall, and while they are physically heavy and anchored, the myriad shapes and shadows give many of the pieces a weightless feeling; "stratus nebuluosis" (pictured) appears as though is floating away from the wall and into the stratosphere. 

Each layer bears its own intrinsic shape, stacked atop one another. Reynolds has ground away the ridges in the walls to make them as smooth as possible, thus exposing the ethereal shapes of her works and creating seemingly endless swathes of undulating surfaces. Larger sculptures, like "stratus castellanus" (pictured), are comprised of 30-50 thin layers of plywood. Christoper Addison, co-founder of the gallery, said Reynolds' work is "very labor-intensive, and she practices an absolute sense of control" in each sculpture.

One visitor noted that the collection felt like a "navigational force" enticing viewers to touch the curious bends and waves. But, touching the artwork is a bad idea, since that evening not one--but two--sculptures on separate occasions fell to the floor! As evidenced, the show the second element -- stratus series will surely captivate and inspire its audience in this warm, airy space.

On display until October 23, 2010.  Hours: Tues.-Sat. 11AM-6PM. Contact: (202) 338-5180, www.addisonripleyfineart.com, www.sansomreynolds.com.