LOS ANGELES, CA.- Walter Maciel Gallery is presenting Returned to Universe, the gallery's first solo exhibition by Anne Austin Pearce. The exhibition includes a carefully curated selection of works on paper detailing the various ways Pearce connects pattern, shape and line to create her intricate paintings.

Rooted in her keen observation of the natural world, Pearce applies pigment using an interplay of impulsive movements with precise, contemplative mark-making. She begins with layers of acrylic washes on heavy stock paper that form spontaneous shapes to create the foundation and structure for each painting. Using one small pool of pigment at a time, Pearce employs a complex interplay of ink, watercolor, collage, and iridescent marks. Each bold layer perfectly forms upon one another to create depth and rhythm. Tighter, more controlled strokes are applied in a repetitive motion vacillating between movement and stillness like the ebb and flow of tidal forces. The complexity of surface is further explored with the use of collaged cut-out shapes physically accentuating the layers of depth and intrigue while weaving together harmonious abstract pictorial fields. The outcomes are often visually related to the elements of the earth, air and sea with waves of motion and intimate moments of tranquility.

These paintings are a continuation of works that emerged in response to the isolation of the pandemic when Pearce first moved to Orange County from Kansas City just before global lockdown. She immediately appreciated the opportunity to be more deeply connected to nature in Coastal Southern California year-round. As the pandemic lingered on, she enjoyed moments of solitude spent indoors with extended periods of time in nature, embracing visual narratives of personal and communal resilience and connecting it to the phenomena of the natural world. Some of the works in the show explore the space of the greater universe and go beyond interpretations from our tangible, physical world. These images are often interpretations of looking in depth at the sky or a powerful dream reimagined. Our show includes a range of scales with some works on paper being small to medium in size and others very large, unframed in either a horizontal or vertical format. All of Pearce’s surfaces offer up a feast of dense rhythms, articulating worlds known but unseen. Her paintings capture not the physical likeness of a place, but rather the emotional responses they elicit.

Anne Austin Pearce studied printmaking at the Kansas City Art Institute, Brighton Polytechnic and the University of Kansas. In 1993, Pearce received a full scholarship to James Madison University, where she received her MFA in drawing and painting. A recipient of a Charlotte Street Award, she has participated in multiple national and international residencies including Space Department, Nara, Japan, UCROSS Foundation, Wyoming, Draw International, Caylus, France, Rimbun Dahan, KL Malaysia, pARTage, Flic en Flac, Mauritius and Akumal Mexico. Pearce will be participating in an artist residency at the Space Department, Japan in May of 2025. She has been included in various group exhibitions such as the Founders Gallery at Soka University in Aliso Viejo, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art in Springfield, MO, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, KS, Shore Institute for Contemporary Art at the Corcoran School of Art and Design in Washington DC; and the Drawing Center in New York. Pearce’s work is held in international private collections and museum collections including Tucson Museum of Art, Spencer Museum of Art, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami Dade College Museum of Art.