An accomplished architect, Stuart Silk has been painting for most of his life. He returns to his studio for his first fine art exhibition. This body of work explores the spiritual and ephemeral dimensions of the natural world, illuminating nature’s cycles of change, destruction, and rebirth through color, light, and intuitive abstraction.
Rooted in the artist’s deep fascination with the impermanence of the visible world, the works in Transitory Light evoke both geological forces and intimate observation. Earthquakes, erosion, dams, and development, both natural and manmade, are not just events, but metaphors for transformation. Through a balance of observation, memory, and imagination, Silk examines how moments of beauty arise out of flux.
“My goal is to enhance the probity of the moment,” the artist writes. “By focusing on a few elements and eliminating the extraneous, I aim to transform an idea into its own visual truth, not simply to depict what I see, but to capture its inner resonance.”
Working from photographs, sketches, and handmade maquettes, the artist allows each painting to evolve organically, responding to accidents, surprises, and shifts in momentum. This process-based approach imbues the work with a sense of presence and openness, where chaos gradually gives way to clarity.
The result is a series of paintings that function as meditative spaces, inviting viewers to contemplate the temporality of their own surroundings and to consider the tension between what is fleeting and what endures.
Stuart received his Master’s Degree in Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture in 1976. Stuart has lectured at University of California Berkeley, University of Washington, University of Edmonton, and at the Venice Biennale. His work has been included in exhibitions at Yale University, Wesleyan University, and at the Global Architecture art gallery. He has served on juries and taught at the University of Washington.
Stuart has a long-standing interest in the arts and has served on the boards of the Henry Art Gallery, CoCA, and Arcade.
