Richard Nash: Consonance presents a selection of large Corten steel, non-representational sculptures in conversation with the artist's more intimate, abstract paintings. Inspired by the work of Abstract Expressionist artists such as Hans Hoffmann and Robert Motherwell, and committed to the expressive possibilities of the muted palette of the Northwest School masters, Nash's work is as distinctive as it is sophisticated. As the title of the exhibition suggests, Consonance

emphasizes Nash's interest in working with a controlled repertoire of compositional elements such as form, shape, line, light and shadow to generate—through their recurrence, variation and visual relationships—a sense of movement, engagement, discovery and emotion.

This visual strategy is particularly evident in the sculptures of the Conical Consonance series as well as his Segmented Prism, both featured in the exhibition: as in music where, through a simple combinatorial system, a finite number of sounds generates infinite harmonies and a range of emotions, Nash's sculptures succeed in articulating the repeated conical form and the interlocking wedges of steel to generate compelling movement and engaging variations on the same theme. It is fitting that the artist equates his art to jazz or poetry.

Nash's paintings require deliberate time to be explored and absorbed. As in his sculptures, Nash's paintings develop in series, each building upon the previous. Starting with the elements of composition, like a diagonal line or a frame, the artist painstakingly layers the acrylic paint to create blended, mesmerizing variations of architectural or formal elements. Characterized by a subdued "Northwest" palette and a strong play of light and shadow, his paintings are suggestive of liminal visions of interiors enshrouded in a pensive and ponderous atmosphere.

Foundational to Richard Nash's artistic practice is his 30-year career as an art educator, his travels to study art and architecture in Europe, Russia, Japan, and New York City as well as his exposure to the abstract expressionism of the artists of the New York School during his MFA studies in Painting and Printmaking at Washington State University.

This exhibition was made possible in part by the generosity of the following donors:

Karla & Carl Freund, FIRST COMMAND