Adam Bauder, What was Left Behind, oil on canvas, 48 x 30 in.

“Rather than presenting solitude as a single emotional state, the works on view reveal it as an experience that can be restorative and transformative,” explains gallery director Lance Rehs. “Solitude is a fundamental aspect of the human condition, yet one that is often misunderstood or viewed solely in a negative light…Yet psychological research suggests the opposite: periods of solitude are essential to personal development, creating space for reflection, creativity and renewed perspective.”

Mark Harrison, Waiting for News, oil on canvas, 12 x 31½ in.

Martin’s featured work Déchirures (French for “tears” or “rips”) explores the tension between the precise realism of the figure and the dissolution of her surroundings. For Martin, this blurry boundary represents the state of solitude. “The background is built up and scraped away, layered and eroded, like a wall that’s been weathered by time,” explains the artist. “The figure emerges from the chaos. She’s not placed in a space, she’s part of it, and gradually disappearing into it…This woman is fully present, and at the same time, her body is already merging with the surface, losing its edges. That’s what solitude feels like from the inside: not loneliness, but a slow dissolution of the self into the chaos of the world around.” 

Bertrand Martin, Déchirures, oil and acrylic on canvas, 32 x 46 in.

For Bauder, the show’s title, We Walk This Road Alone, is a metaphor for the artist’s journey. “We may have outside influence, motivation and encouragement, but ultimately, it’s up to any of us to take the steps necessary to move forward,” he says. “Up ahead lays discovery, improvement, and with any luck…happiness.” Drawing from his own childhood memories, his painting What was Left Behind depicts a girl engrossed in a classic  Edgar Rice Burroughs sci-fi novel, while her imagination springs to life in the background. Inspired by the experience of being caught in a repeating memory, France-Vaz’s piece Time Channel reflects the experience of time as circular rather than linear. The artist explains, “As the figure sits within a mechanical, Da Vinci-like form, holding a watch with blurred numerals, confronting these moments becomes a quiet turning point toward clarity and a return to one’s own sense of direction.”

Nanci France-Vaz, Time Channel, oil on linen panel, 30 x 20 in.

A tour of the National Parks provided the inspiration for Harrison’s sweeping Western landscape Waiting for News. “I was fascinated by how people live out in the boondocks, on the edge of small towns in hostile desert environments and make a go of it,” says Harrison, who lives in Brighton, England. “Although isolated, the potential is also there for living your life the way you want to and a chance to find out about oneself and develop skills that are in all of us, a theme I work on in the other paintings I have in the show.”