Oliver Vernon “Awaken the Chrysalis”

Vernon’s compositions suspend elements of abstraction, architecture, figuration, and landscape in a cohesive visual expression of the irrepresentable, the unknown, and the metaphysical. By applying recognizable hints of terrain, gradients, and form, Oliver creates subtle cues that invoke grounding familiarity while demonstrating the freedom to push abstraction and obscurity. His work challenges preconceived notions of perception, space, and structure as he methodically stretches, warps, and deconstructs traditional compositions. The oscillation between calmness/calamity, weird/wonderful, and machinery/mother nature evoke a pulsating energy that gives life to every one of Oliver Vernon’s pieces.

Awaken the Chrysalis will be Vernon’s first solo show in six years. The title alludes to a state of incubation where microcellular coding has been carefully programmed beneath the surface and the time of hatching is near. Vernon’s fascination with the embryo, which he describes as, “a code of nature’s energy,” catalyzes mathematical, systemic, and microcellular themes throughout his work and opens the door for a world of potential.

In this exhibition, Oliver finds himself collaging pieces he has painted on paper- borrowing from an assortment of past experience and giving way to the creation of a reassembled present moment. His improvisational and gestural approach led by his body and intuition is then followed by controlled precision and painstaking detail. He describes his work in the throes of making love and making war- the interconnected intensity that facilitates destruction and rebirth- a representation of pushing forward the space-time continuum.

Words and images via Mirus Gallery