A Precarious Edge

In A Precarious Edge, two artists incorporating different media explore a contemplative dialog on the beauty, benefits, and boundaries of our essential habitats. Inside this exhibition, a delicate reality surfaces asking the viewer to reflect on a presumptive outlook with a new awareness: how can I preserve and be part of the restoration of our ecosystems? 

Together, Meg Holgate’s large-scale figurative landscapes on canvas and paper and Steve Klein’s narrative kiln-formed and blown glass, offer a unique and immersive experience. The exhibition is heightened by the symphonic composition Terra Nostra II (Our Earth) created by Grammy-nominated composer Christophe Chagnard. From the retreat of glaciers to the drift of massive icebergs, from the reduction of species diversity to the loss of forest, the artist's collaborative work inspires an introspective feeling of being on a delicate precipice. United by their attention to detail and ability to distill, particularly the qualities of light and water,  A Precarious Edge quietly inspires viewers to effect change in their own lives as a means of stepping back from the edge to embrace restoration, preservation, sustainability, and a renewed eco-consciousness. 

Using different media Holgate and Klein’s storytelling conjure an evocative reminder that we must take part in the restoration of our natural habitats that are being altered by an inconvenient truth.  Working with a softer color palette, Meg Holgate describes her natural landscape as moments of meditation rendered on canvas with thin veils of color and quiet line-form.  As seen in Disappearing, Holgates juxtaposes perspective lines found from the 17th-century masters with the ancient philosophy “as above, as below.” There is great abundance being skewed everywhere we look--on land, sea and sky, states curator Jodie Nelson.  She continues, “we need exhibitions like A Precarious Edge to help lend perspective on what is happening around us and to feel into an existential impact. During a recent studio visit with the artists about the exhibit, it brought forth thoughts of collective hope and the influential quote by Marcel Proust, ”The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscape, but in having new eyes.” Klein's kiln-formed, cast and blown work is sculptural and steeped in light, incorporating multiple layers of color with narrative elements of silk-screened images. In Klein's own words, “My recent works seek to explore and appreciate with deep concern the fragile state of our environment.”  Steve Klein explores and pushes the boundaries of his kiln-formed glass mastery and narrative power. For the first time, Klein introduces literal elements as an accentuating counterpoint to his quintessential geometric forms and exuberant color. The results are provoking and fragile as the melting ice caps and the open space of a burnt forest as seen in Forest. 

Meg Holgate and Steve Klein live and work in La Conner, Washington. Individually, their work is included in many international private and museum permanent collections. The artists are represented by galleries worldwide.