This December, the annual color-themed show returns to the Harrison Gallery. Dozens of local artists submitted pieces, ranging from sculpture to paintings, photography to collage. The theme: Hi Ho Silver, is interpreted at the discretion and inspiration of the artist. As with each group show, the artists bring their personal medium and experience to the task. Like every creative work we currently see and experience, this exhibit can be set against the events of the past two years. A diverse show with a unifying line evokes a particular “together but apart” phrase we have become all too familiar with.

Floor Lamp by Connor Knoll. Wood, paint, graphite powder, wiring, acrylic, concrete, 40" x 16" x 73".

It is likely that the talent and skill possessed by the artists were molded by the past year, and even more likely that the subject matter was affected by said year. There are more references to kitchens than glittering, silver skyscrapers. Silver, often associated with the winter season and its holidays, feels fitting for a year that often felt like a hazy, grey fog mixed with a sparkling bit of hope.

A whirlwind of time, with months passing quickly and slowly, takes shape in pieces like the “Artefact” series by Steve Nyktas. The chromogenic prints, which are developed using silver-based photographic chemicals, distort the perception of depth and texture with forms that could have been created in permanently frozen suspension or at the moment of an explosion.

Artefact (3D Scan #1) by Steve Nyktas. Chromogenic print. 30” x 45”

Even in a limited color spectrum, the mood and tone are apparent, in the matte, deep grey of a graveyard flower (“Gravemarker 1,” by Joshua Bleecker) and the gleaming, opulent metallic of a car ornament (“The Goddess of Speed” by Darrell Staggs). There are sparse, icy whites, like in Abby Morgan’s close-up photographs, and blindingly bright silver, seen in Deedee Bernhardt’s “Polished,” of an airstream trailer that would burn your skin at the touch in summer.

Polished by Dee Dee Bernhardt. Oil on board. 8” x 12”

In the exhibit, silver is nostalgic, even mythological, as often as it is futuristic. “Silver Anubis,” a miniature sculpture by Merle Pace, evokes ancient Egypt, while “Silver Snoopy Award” Joy Hernandez, depicts an astronaut at home in space. Silver is a precious metal in Donna Curry’s dinnerware assemblage, “Fine Dining,” and disposable in a screenprint of a sardine tin by Gigi Salij. It can be natural, like the greying hair on the back of a gorilla (by Teresa Gooldy) or a manufactured symbol of urbanism, as in Connor Knoll’s “Floor Lamp.”

Silver Anubis by Merle Pace. Clay, 2” x 3”

Sardines by Gigi Salij. Screenprint. 19” x 25”

“Hi Ho Silver!” will be on display in the Harrison Gallery for the month of December. The exhibit can be viewed by appointment and in our online gallery, where all pieces are available for purchase.