Improvisational and passionate, the recent abstract paintings of Yari Ostovany
straddle a nebulous realm between the mysterious, mystical, and spiritual. In the studio, Ostovany strives to lose himself and cross into the unconscious–both the personal and collective. Painting to him is an intimate journey of exploration through the alchemy of color, light, texture, and the poetics of space. As his journey ends, ours begins.

Above: Yari Ostovany, Simorgh Descending V, 2016
Oil on Canvas, 80 x 80 Inches

Yari Ostovany, Simorgh Ascending, 2017
Oil on Canvas, 90 x 48 Inches

“My work has to do with the dichotomy of light and gravity and the quest for Lux Aeterna, or self-generating light, rather than one coming from an external source,” says Ostovany. “Each series has its origin in an emotional or cognitive spark, an experience which is used as a point of departure leading to gestural outbursts and atmospheric passages.”

Yari Ostovany, Monument to a Poet, 2017
Oil on Canvas, 72 x 72 Inches

Works are made over time with layers upon layers of thick and thin washes and glazes, providing both luminous and opaque passages. Often starting with gestural marks, these solid forms then dissolve as the layers explode and implode by adding, rubbing out, reapplying, scouring into, and scraping away. This practice of going back and forth only stops when Ostovany senses the whole has become greater that the sum of its parts.

Yari Ostovany, Chelleneshin 37, 2016
Oil on Canvas, 48 x 36 Inches

Ostovany says, “I see abstraction as representational insofar as it is a representation of a psychic state, not an external reality. The trajectories in contemporary painting in which my work belongs range from Abstract Expressionism in the west to Persian, Taoist, and Zen aesthetic sensibilities in the East, and other perennial visionary paths of wisdom.”

Yari Ostovany, Prometheus, 2017
Oil on Canvas, 48 x 35 Inches

Yari Ostovany, The Crossing, 2017
Oil on Canvas, 77 x 95 Inches

Yari Ostovany, The Valley of Yearning, 2017
Oil on Canvas, 48 x 90 Inches

Photograph of Yari Ostovany by Dariush Nehdaran

Born in Iran in 1962, Yari Ostovany moved to the United States at the age of 16. He first studied art at the University of Nevada in Reno, and then received his MFA at the San Francisco Art institute in 1995. Based in Cologne, Germany, from 2000 to 2004, Ostovany currently lives and works in Berkeley, California. He has taught, traveled, and exhibited his art extensively in the United States and internationally. His work is held in numerous personal and permanent collections around the world.

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It was a noisy Friday night. The art studios in the building were at capacity, overflowing with reception goers and competing genres of overly exuberant art. When I walked into Diane Tate DallasKidd’s space, the noise stopped. The room was spare and calm, and her art was a world apart from the others outside. It was both subtle and strong. At what first glance appeared to be all black paintings with slivers of gold, I eventually noticed an almost imperceptible background of the deepest, darkest blue. I felt that I had discovered a secret on that noisy Friday night, one that I want to share. Please join me in viewing the works of emerging artist Diane Tate DallasKidd at Sloan Miyasato Fine Art.

-Michelle Bello

Above Image: Diane Tate DallasKidd, Introspect 3, 2017
Acrylic on Wood Panel, 48 x 73.5 x 1.6 Inches

Diane Tate DallasKidd, Flight of Fancy 1-6, 2014
Acrylic on Wood Panel, 24 x 18 Inches

“Folds of Gold is about transferring the inspired moment to the viewer. Pieces were composed by swift and intuitive acts of folding paper. Folding requires the body to envelop the material, layering planes of space over and unto itself. Using this 3D approach to create a ‘flat’ painting allowed for a spontaneous mode of expression,” says Diane Tate DallasKidd.

Diane Tate DallasKidd, Modules 1-4, 2014
Acrylic on Wood Panel, 24 x 18 Inches Each, 36 x 48 All

Diane Tate DallasKidd
Artist Portrait Photo by Dana Spaeth

Diane Tate DallasKidd was born and raised in San Francisco. Upon graduating from SF State University with a BFA in Textile Art, she traveled to Japan to study under 4th generation dyer Tsuyoshi Kuno. Kuno uses centuries old shibori techniques in inventive ways to create cutting-edge textiles for avante-garde fashion designers such as Issey Miyake. Shibori is a dye-resist technique in which pattern is created by keeping areas of the cloth from taking color using methods such as stitching, tying, and folding. Working alongside these visionary textile artisans had a lasting impact on DallasKidd’s own artwork. In addition to continuing to experiment with textiles in her art practice, she brings the same vision and dedication to process in her most recent body of paintings Folds of Gold.

Diane Tate DallasKidd, Introspect 3 and 4, 2017 (Installation View)
Acrylic on Wood Panel, 48 x 73.5 x 1.6 Inches

Eric Powell’s sculpture is driven by a visceral urgency to build. Compelled by intuition, Powell engages in a moment-to-moment exploration of his materials. It’s a vulnerable and highly charged experience. His preferred medium is steel, one of the most common and ubiquitous building materials in the modern world. “Steel is infinitely versatile and adaptable. It’s a durable, long lasting industrial material that can be sculpted into virtually any form that the imagination can conjure,” says the artist.

Images Above: Eric Powell, Schooner, 2016, Steel, 34 x 53 x 11 Inches; Eric Powell artist portrait; Eric Powell, Gosa I, 2017, Steel, 51 x 32 x 12 Inches

Eric Powell, Vestige III, 2016, Steel, 88 x 52 x 15 Inches

Eric Powell, Barque, 2017, 19 x 35 x 8 Inches

An avid collector, Powell regularly searches for steel along the waterfront landfills, in junk yards and anywhere he can discover a large cache of historical metal objects, which he often integrates into his pieces. These metal remains serve as reminders of our country’s rich industrial past. Powell also makes an annual sojourn deep into the California and Nevada deserts where he camps and walks miles every day hunting for scavenged treasures to make art. This ritual is a spiritual journey, a reflection of self and a rejuvenation of his practice. Freed of studio constraints, he makes improvisational sculptures out of these weather-worn metal and wood fragments. Then he leaves them behind in the desert sun.

Video: Eric Powell – Metal Sculpture, Directed by Kesten Migdal, 2:17 Minutes

Eric Powell, Tarim, 2017, 34 x 27 x 4 Inches

“Drawing also informs my work,” says Powell. “It is very much like other practices such as yoga and meditation. It is an exercise in balancing play with discipline, the intuitive with the linear, the unknown with the known.” He sketches almost daily, and his sculptures reflect the spontaneity and fluidity of his hand. Along with his three-dimensional works, he also creates finished drawings and paintings.

Eric Powell, Quadpodular I, 2017, 22 x 16 x 14 Inches

Eric Powell, Sacellum, 2010, Steel, 77 x 20 x 18 Inches

Powell is most well known for his commissioned works of art that strongly relate to site and architecture. His pieces grace numerous public institutions and private estates around the country, including freestanding sculpture or integrated architectural works such as gates, fences, and sculptural screens. He especially enjoys the collaborative aspect of working with design and architectural professionals, developers, arts commissions, and other stakeholders. Public art projects provide him an opportunity to create lasting works that are accessible to all. Adds Powell, “I create artworks that are relevant and responsive to the places where they reside–whether on a narrative, historical, or poetic level.”

Eric Powell, Germination, 2016, Steel, 14 x 16 x 7 Inches

Eric Powell, Chantry, 2010, Steel, 32 x 10 x 8 Inches

Born in San Jose, California, Powell studied sculpture and painting at California College of the Arts and University of Southern California. In 1982, he co-founded Spirit Arts Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he created an extensive body of steel art and furniture. In 1989, he returned to the San Francisco Bay Area to continue his sculptural practice and begin working in the public art realm. Over the years, he has produced large-scale commissions for cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Napa, San Jose, Berkeley, Tucson, Madison, Cambridge and Reno. He recently completed work for a major public art project in San Francisco’s Hunters Point Shipyard. His art can be seen in libraries, plazas, parks, and other public places such as the Daly City BART station and Golden Gate Park.

Eric Powell, Portal, 2014, Installation View with Artist
Mixed Media on Composite Board, 86 x 86 Inches

Eric Powell, Flotilla, 2016,
Public Installation, Hillpoint Park, San Francisco
Painted Steel, 90 Inches Long

Miya Ando
Yellow Gold Moon Mandala, 2016
Pigment, Urethane, Resin, Stainless Steel
36 Inches
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Penny Olson
Concrete 4012, 2016
2 Panels Archival Pigment Print
54 x 81 Inches
Edition of 3
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Rex Yuasa
E.F.S., 1994
Acrylic, Oil, and Alkyd on Canvas
49 x 49 Inches
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Rex Yuasa
K.F.S., 1994
Acrylic, Oil, and Alkyd on Canvas
49 x 49 Inches
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Jeff Long
Untitled 12, 2016
Oil and Collage on Paper Mounted on Wood Panel
30 x 22 Inches
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Miya Ando
Kon (Navy) Meditation Mandala, 2016
Dyed Bodhi (Ficus Religiosa) Skeleton Leaves, Monofilament, and Archival Ragboard
41 x 41 x 2 Inches
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David Ruddell
Blackboard, Gold Strip, Boat with Red Interior, 2015
Painted Fir, Canvas, 22 Carat Gold Leaf
46 x 60 x 5 Inches
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Miya Ando
Blue Gold Moon Mandala, 2016
Pigment, Urethane, Resin, Stainless Steel
36 Inches
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Beauty is unbearable, drives us to despair, offering us for a minute the glimpse of an eternity that we should like to stretch out over the whole of time. -Albert Camus

Christel Dillbohner
Turbulence III, 2011
Oil, Wax on Canvas
66 x 60 Inches
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Christel Dillbohner
Lost Coast XIII – Weather Rolling In, 2014
Oil, Cold Wax on Linen
60 x 53 Inches
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Deborah Dancy
Vernal Pools, 2014
Oil on Canvas
60 x 60 Inches
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Kirk Maxson
Oxalis and Mallow, 2016
Varnished Brass
42 x 52 x 10 Inches
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Kirk Maxson
Golden Eagle Wing, 2015
Varnished and Waxed Brass, Wire
10 x 23 x 3 Inches

Swan Wing, 2015
Varnished and Waxed Brass, Wire
9 x 23 x 3 Inches

Wild Grass, 2013
Aluminum, Nickel Silver Wire
18 x 30 x 10 Inches
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Laurie Reid
Pond, 2016
Oil and Acrylic on Linen
36 x 48 Inches
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Lisa Bartleson
Sphere 316-42-04, 2016
Mixed media and Resin on Panel
42 x 42 Inches
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Ryan Cobourn
Lake Effect 1, 2016
Mixed Media on Paper
30 x 40 Inches
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Mara De Luca
Dior Dusk, 2015
Mixed Media on Canvas over Panel
38.5 x 48 Inches
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