Gerald Peters Contemporary is pleased to present Negotiated Desires, featuring new and recent works by Elizabeth Hohimer, on view at the gallery’s Santa Fe location.
Elizabeth Hohimer’s site-specific, land-based practice is an immersive study of desert atmospheres in the western United States. From her childhood in Texas to her recent travels throughout the West, Hohimer has felt a closeness to the land and a deep appreciation for the space and light of the region.
In her tapestries, scale, open structure and color combine to convey the impression of luminosity. Hohimer ’s signature atmospheric compositions employ a reduced palette reminiscent of the desert landscapes that inspired the work. Using pinks, beiges and creams, Hohimer explores the expressive potential of nuanced color tonalities to negotiate the confines of the compositional structure.
Interested in conveying the transcendent, Hohimer’s compositional choices are accompanied by the conviction that those elements could reveal the presence of philosophical truths, harmony and order. These elements, more closely affiliated with painting, distinguish the work from its traditional utilitarian associations and bridge the compositions to the Modern histories of painting.
Her recent stylistic explorations have led to a proliferation of new works with layered transparencies of vibrant pigments and earth tones culminating in luminous and ethereal compositions. As in her previous series, Hohimer’s new work maintains her commitment to abstractness as a means of articulating the essence and physicality of the desert landscape.
“My recent tapestries are rooted in memory and emotion. Drawing inspiration from summer in the high deserts of West Texas – the late August meteor showers and patterns of summer shade – these works are artifacts of feelings.”
Elizabeth Hohimer received her BFA in textiles from California College of the Arts. This is her second exhibition in Santa Fe with Gerald Peters Contemporary. Her works are included in prominent private collections nationwide.