Confluence Hosts Three
By Marcy Stamper - Methow Valley News

Complex and sophisticated work by three mature artists – multi-media artist and architectural designer Doug Potter, sculptor Dan Hulphers and painter James “Jet” Hausman – is featured in Confluence Gallery’s new exhibit.

“They’re all in their 60s, and Doug [Potter] asked the others to exhibit with him as a reckoning with their age,” said curator Theresa Miller
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Both Potter and Hulphers incorporate recycled and rescued materials in their architecture and art. “Relics from a long-ago era drive my design process,” wrote Potter.

Building on a concept he calls “artifactual residue,” Potter has used patinas to create the paintings for this exhibit. In his subtly layered canvasses, one can read geometric vestiges, bits of lace, patterns of decomposition and even stray letters.

“With fine arts, as with architecture, my goals have been to stay loose, keep it simple, and take what I get. Some of these pieces are a result of these practices, some are not. They are all in one way or another a product of time,” wrote Potter.

Hulphers’ “post-industrial sculpture” combines artifacts like car parts and machinery with pieces of trees to balance nature and the remnants of industry. They are inspired by the relics left behind by homesteaders who first settled in the Okanogan.

Many of his sculptures show an affinity for the designs of Native peoples, with interlocking geometry and a respect for the texture of the wood grain. Rusting Chevy fenders and farm machinery stand in ironic contrast to the natural materials.

Hausman is exhibiting bold and vibrant acrylic landscapes. “I paint what I see – it’s my expression of what’s in my head,” he said.

In his early years, Hausman studied expressionism in Paris, but he works in an original style with no set boundaries. “Painting has been a lifelong passion for me,’” he wrote. “Today, I see no movement or style that dominates art. It is very liberating, and makes this a great time to create.”

“They all have a soul to me – they have to relate to the items around them,” said Miller.
Confluence’s solo gallery will present new glass art by Laurie Kain, who spent the summer working at the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Wash.