Opening Reception: Quiet Structure by Roberta Ahrens

What: Quiet Structure + Opening Reception
When: Opening Reception – Saturday, April 4th, 2025, 5 – 8 pm, Show Run – March 24th – April 26th
Location: Usher Gallery, 1 Petaluma Blvd North, Petaluma

“Quiet Structure” showcases a selection of contemporary botanical and water-based works by Roberta Ahrens.

Roberta Ahrens is a California-based artist whose practice centers on contemporary works created on handmade cracked linen. This featured exhibition will be on view at Usher Gallery from March 24th to April 26th.

Join us for the opening reception to enjoy live music by Sophia Rayne, refreshments, and an opportunity to meet and connect with the artist.

Artist Statement:
“I create contemporary botanical and water-based works on my own handmade cracked linen. The surface is my primary collaborator built, fractured, carved, and layered with
acrylic, watercolor, and clay base until it holds both structure and light.
I’m drawn to what I think of as nature’s architecture: the way a petal opens like a vault, the way water forms strata through movement and pressure. Rather than simply depicting flowers or waves, I interpret them in a wider artistic landscape.
Scale matters. Many pieces are meant to be experienced bodily, and emotionally, ways that reveal subtle shifts in depth and translucency as light moves across them.
With both botanicals and water, I pursue a shared language of balance and motion where stillness and force exist at the same time. My intention is to offer a place to slow down and feel the quiet intelligence of the natural world.”
– Roberta Ahrens

More details about Roberta Ahrens and her work can be found at: https://www.robertaahrens.com/