Elemental

Exhibition Dates:
* November 28 – December 30

Desta Gallery is pleased to announce Elemental featuring: Sheryl Daane Chesnut, Isabelle Maynard and Karyn Gabriel

Sheryl Daane Chesnut received a Bachelor in Fine Art in painting and printmaking from UC Berkeley and UC Santa Barbara. After graduation she worked as a graphic and product designer, and—although she now works full time in fine art—her years in design are evident in the color, composition and balance of her paintings.

An avid hiker, she is inspired by the beauty in nature whether it is a myopic view of the details or an overview from a satellite image. Daane Chesnut lives and works in San Luis Obispo on the Central Coast of California and is influenced by the open hillsides, Pacific Ocean and local vineyards. Her work is sold in galleries around the United States and is in many private and corporate collections.

Artist Statement
Behind the veil of apparent randomness many of nature’s processes are highly ordered, following simple rules. Fractal properties are found in many natural phenomena: ocean waves, snowflakes, crystals, algae, and river networks. These qualities of ordered chaos find their way into my artwork.

With an experimental approach and a variety of organic and inorganic elements: salts and minerals, earth pigments and metals, solvents, polymers, ink, I consider myself an alchemist on canvas. I pour, layer and etch away. Strokes and scratches appear to be exposed from underneath a veil of ice and stone giving the work detail and depth.

Metals float across, transparent layers entrap movement underneath, and the minerals dry and crystallize to create an ice-like surface. I use color, line, texture and fluidity to engage the viewer from every angle.

Instead of focusing on the landscape as a whole I find beauty in the details and random patterning in nature. I strive to create work that is ephemeral and evocative, to embrace the fragility of the earth’s current state, and to help bring that beauty into spaces where we live and work.

Isabelle Maynard 

“Isabelle Maynard paints with a choreographic gesture. She is playing between coloured grey nebulae surfaces and nervous lines of forces.” said French journalist, H. Richard.

Isabelle’s paintings, some dark and intense shades of grays, others dreamy with airy whites, provide a great source of meditation and feelings. Each work begins with a process that includes putting a thin layer of plaster on the canvas, which gives her the sense of a blank page. She then starts expressing herself, sometimes in subtle and delicate, or, at other times, in brutal and primal ways that reflect her sincerity every time without any artifices.

Isabelle enjoys spending time outside, both in crowded cities and in nature. Those different interactions allow her to contemplate life and emphasize her emotions, giving her a broad palette to express herself.

Isabelle Maynard was born and raised in France and graduated from the Fine Art School of Montpellier France, after a few years studying psychology in Bordeaux. She was inspired by prominent artists, including Pierre Soulages, Antoni Tapies, and many others.

Living near Spain and having Spanish relatives, Isabelle was inspired by and immersed in French and Spanish cultures. The mix of various cultures is the cement of her work. But her dream was to discover the United States with its vast landscapes and urban surroundings, aspiring to be a part of its abstract expressionist masters such as Cy Twombly, De Kooning, and Joan Mitchell. Her dream was realized when she was given a wonderful opportunity to move to and live in Brooklyn, New York. Here a new chapter of her life began. Now, Isabelle divides her time between the United States in Napa, California and Europe in Toulouse, France.

Isabelle’s work has been exhibited in solo and group shows in the United States, France, and Spain. Her work can be found in private and public collections in Paris, Barcelona, Geneva, Montreal, and the United States, including at Airbus, where it is displayed in private jets.

Karyn Gabriel 

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Karyn Gabriel has built a career that flows between architecture and art — a dynamic that serves as a point of inspiration for cross pollination between those worlds.

She studied architecture, graphic design, and art, receiving a BFA in Interior Architecture from the University of Michigan. During a vibrant twenty-five-year career in architectural design, Karyn’s award-winning projects were recognized in numerous publications including Architectural Record, Interior Design, Architectural Digest, and Print magazines.

Yet all the while, there was an itch.

Karyn longed to be a maker, getting dirty in materials to translate ideas and experiences into a personal visual language. Awarded a full-merit scholarship to study at Oregon College of Art and Craft, she returned to the studio and received a postbaccalaureate degree in sculptural ceramics. She continued her studies as a curatorial intern at Portland’s Museum of Contemporary Craft under director Namita Gupta Wiggers.

Karyn mines her design background creating work with a focus on experimentations in structure, themes of strength and fragility, a love of the imperfect and the raw beauty of pared-down forms. Her work is subtle yet filled with detail, beckoning the viewer to pause and pay close attention.

Since 2019, Karyn has exhibited throughout California and the western United States. In addition to gallery exhibitions, she has a variety of private and corporate collectors across the US and honored having her work published in in Ceramics Monthly, California Homes and California Home + Design magazines.