Lindey Carter, Heidi Moller Somsen & Brian Kosoff

Please join us this Friday, August 21st from 6-9pm for the opening of new work by Lindey Carter & Heidi Moller Somsen on our Main Floor and Brian Kosoff in our Dibble Gallery. (Masks & social distancing required.)

Lindey Carter’s delicate watercolor landscapes are so sparse they verge on abstract. As Carter puts it, “by studying the details of just one truth I am able to make sense of the chaos that surrounds me.” Her method of painting with watercolor on panel, thickly coated with gesso makes her work unusual – the gentle striation of the unsanded medium creates a textural background unlike that of watercolor paper. Her latest work includes several small serene paintings of lemons, born in a particularly difficult year for everyone. “I was cutting lemons early this spring, when my emotions were particularly raw. I realized how beautiful the light and colors were especially because of the shadows. Such trials bring out the best and worst in us as they continually shape and define us. Although I’m grateful for a well-lit easy path, I love the unexpected beauty found only in the shadows.”

Heidi Moller Somsen, “Erosion”, ceramic, gold leaf, wood, 15 1/2 X 18 X 8 inches
Heidi Moller Somsen creates hauntingly beautiful ceramic sculptures that speak to our human relationship with the natural world, which can be at times destructive or healing. Her work is primarily simple in form and sometimes even primitive in its appearance, but it is rich with meaning, speaking with the unique visual language of the artist’s Swedish-Canadian and Mormon cultural background. This new body of work incorporates elements of erosion and decay,yet maintains an overall quality of solemn beauty. It seems to tell us of the wisdom, growth, and spirituality found in those natural changes inflicted by the passage of time, expressed through fragments of the human figure finding literal and metaphorical connection to the Earth. Somsen received a BFA in ceramics from Brigham Young University and an MFA in studio art from the University of Utah. She is a two-time Utah Artist grant recipient and will be teaching ceramics at the Waterford School in the fall.

Brian Kosoff, “Obstacle”, photograph, 18 X 24 inches

In our Dibble Gallery (downstairs): Brian Kosoff worked as a commercial photographer in New York City for 25 years. Then he made a trip to Death Valley and it set him on a different, much more rewarding path. Intrigued by the peace and serenity found there he began attempting to capture in images both the landscapes he saw and the mood they invoked. This became his life’s work. In 2002, he closed his commercial studio in Manhattan and eventually moved west.
“Producing monochrome landscape images using gray tones to articulate quiet moments in time, Kosoff often employs the panoramic format. He is a poet with a camera, rendering stanzas in grayscale using the rhythm of minimalistic images. It’s as if Kosoff wants to make his work accessible while at the same time not too accessible, holding back part of an image’s mystery for discovery and interpretation by the viewer.” (Excerpted from: Joe Farace, Shutterbug Magazine, June 2012).
Our gallery hours (for now) are Tuesday-Saturday 12-4pm. Please rest assured that we have been enhancing our cleaning standards by implementing specific guidelines from the CDC. Surfaces, door knobs and railings continue to be disinfected. We wear masks and ask you to do so as well while maintaining a respectful “social distance”.

For those who prefer to stay home, we support and honor your decision. Our website is available for you to peruse 24/7 at www.phillips-gallery.com and our Gallery Director and Fine Art Consultants are ready to assist you and answer questions by email at meri@phillips-gallery.com. hadley@phillips-gallery.com or lya@phillips-gallery.com or by phone at 801-364-8284.
Thank you for your continued support of the arts and of our small business. We wouldn’t be here without you.