Order from chaos on display in Stanwood

La Conner artist Barbara Silverman Summers is extending the Northwest’s mystical art tradition this month with a solo show aptly named “Remixing Mysticism.” The exhibit opening takes place at Cassera Gallery in Stanwood on March 5 from 6-9 p.m., and remains on display through March 27.

The show represents four years of exploration of movement and texture, Silverman Summers says. She has been employing a technique with both brush and palette knife, painting layers of color and then cutting excavations into the paint surface to create striking patterns. “That scraping, revealing and alternating” of color, she says, is part of a journey to create harmony and balance from chaos.

The exhibit, says gallery owner David Cassera, represents “a fresh evolution of the mystic style of painting from the Skagit Valley,” harkening back to at least two of the Northwest’s “Big Four” mystic artists. “Her sweeping strokes of light are reminiscent of Guy Anderson’s trademark circles, while the frenzy of graffiti-like patterns of paint recall Mark Tobey’s ‘white writing’ but with a more contemporary twist,” says Cassera.

That’s not surprising since – although her roots are in New York – Silverman Summers has known and worked with many of the early Northwest artists and mystics including Anderson, William Slater and poet and calligrapher Robert Sund. She blends her tradition in New York Minimalism and abstract expressionism with the Asian influence of the mystics of this part of the world.

The show will feature 28 new paintings, some including up to 12 layers of paint, offering up an experience of depth and perspective. When the process goes well, she says, she has created an image on canvas that is personal for the viewer but also hints at a universal experience. But ultimately, she leaves it to the viewer to experience and interpret what they see.

In fact, how the viewer interprets her work is an important part of the artistic process. “That has become really important to me. If they say ‘I see six cattails in this painting, is that okay?’ that is completely valid for me,” she said.

Silverman Summers attributes her recent burst of creativity and high output to the weather. “With all this raining we’ve been having I’ve been just painting and painting. It’s been very easy for me to get lot of work done.”

This is her first solo show since 2014. She chose the Cassera Gallery because of the gallery’s aesthetics. “I love showing at Dave’s because it has such a beautiful modern building. with wonderful wall space.” Dave Cassera’s keen eye when it comes to displaying art lends itself to a cohesive display is key, too.

As an artist, she says the show is a culmination of a process. Her most successful work includes the paintings she labors over, but she then steps back and uses her intellect, meditates on that painting, muses on it, and then she goes back in.

Silverman Summers is enjoying this latest series as her work evolves, and she doesn’t intend to stop with the Stanwood exhibit. “This is a series that doesn’t have an end, there are no limits, no restrictions of form. I’m having fun.”

Mysticism is something that she feels here in the Northwest. “There is a universal appeal, many sided,” she says, that include a study of nature and spirituality. And always, her work includes areas that are not clearly defined and therefore open to greater interpretation.

Silverman Summers earned her Masters in Fine Arts from Hunter College. She has since gained acclaim for her abstract, hard-edge painting technique and mystic themes. Her paintings have been exhibited nationally and internationally and they hang in both private and corporate collections.