LOS ANGELES, CA.- Merry Karnowsky Gallery presents this summer’s group exhibition featuring new work from Audrey Kawasaki, Deedee Cheriel and Tara McPherson.

Audrey Kawasaki began her artistic career in her native Los Angeles, after attending Pratt Institute in NY. Moments in the artist’s personal life inform both subject matter and context for her paintings, with strong line work and delicate oils blending seamlessly onto naturally grained wood panels. The artists' newest series of paintings entitled Hirari Hirari, which translates from Japanese as the sound or movement of a petal, leaf or feather slowly falling, is inspired by kimonos given to Kawasaki by her mother and draws from natural motifs such as flowers, birds, and flowing lines found in wind and water. Kawasaki's paintings are comprised of dreamy yet enigmatic portraits of women that exist in moments of tension between idealized innocence and sensuality. The compositions are sometimes melancholic, yet are ultimately resolved in their beauty and balance.

Los Angeles based artist Deedee Cheriel transforms personal experience into folklore through an amalgam of influences both personal and universal. East Indian Art, spirituality, environmentalism, ritual, and landscapes of the Pacific Northwest all inform the artist's work and give context to often-personal narratives. Cheriel’s latest body of work, In Search For More Than Another Shiny Object, radiates a profound philosophical sense of self-awareness and hopefulness. The influence of music and song support themes of light, love and guardianship while the intimacy between Cheriel’s signature anthropomorphic characters engenders a sense of communal nurturing. The quest for more than a shiny object implies a much-needed social shift, and is a reflective of a personal and metaphorically balanced approach to life.

Tara McPherson received her BFA from Art Center College of Design, and is currently based in NY City. Relationships, both to others and to ones-self, are a central theme in McPherson's work. Her meticulously painted portraits have smooth jewel-like surfaces that capture idealized moments in time. Subtle aspects of each character are revealed through singularly fixated gazes, and the environments in which they exist are vast and uncharted. Usually found in deep space or deep in the sea, it is this isolation and dream-like setting that allows for exploration into the inaccessible crevices of the imagination. In Supernova, McPherson's starry eyed heroines and their variable heart- filled voids are seductive while introspective, provocative while contemplative, and allude to themes of love, fulfillment, and personal empowerment.