”In the Abstract” features largely nonrepresentational works by Steph Gimson and Kenneth Charles. It opens Saturday, September 10 from 6-9pm in conjunction with ArtWalk and continues through November 5.

An intensive, evolutionary layering process is at the core of Steph Gimson’s paintings. Paint may be built up and sanded down; incised with an awl; collage elements may be added. There’s a sort of dialog between she and the canvas; each stage in a way dictating the next direction the piece will take. Sometimes there is a subtle symbology at play, but oftentimes not. It is artwork born of feeling and intuition. For all its apparent freedom, the work has a calculated element to it. It is complex, yet balanced, with colors, values and textural elements in measured agreement.

Born in Hong Kong to British parents, Gimson has always been a creative at heart. As a young woman living in London, she embarked on a high-flying career as a globe-trotting makeup artist to the glitterati, prepping the likes of David Bowie and the British royal family for media appearances and red carpet events.

Kenneth Charles' modernist abstract sculptures in metal, clay and cast stone are explorations in geometry. With a designer’s eye, his focus is on balance, tension, fluidity. An analog kind of guy, he eschews computer-aided design in favor of a traditional, hands-on process that begins with a simple sketch. The sketch is then refined into a maquette, which allows him to analyze how the idea moves in space, and informs further refinements before the final artwork is begun.

Kenneth Charles began his career as a commercial artist, but shortly thereafter computers crept in, prompting him to make his exit. In 2009 he began his exploration of sculptural media, starting with clay and casting processes and adding metal fabrication to his repertoire in 2019.