Santa Fe, New Mexico (April 8) - Today, artists Alison Hyman and Elaine Asarch, announce their Punctuated Equilibrium exhibit opening on Friday, May 6 at the studio of Ricardo Mazal, internationally recognized artist in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Curated by art critic Peter Frank, Punctuated Equilibrium is a visual interpretation of seismic events, creating profound evolution through the use of acrylic and oil paints on canvas. "We live in times so uncertain that uncertainty is the only certainty. Artists, as usual, intuit this and reflect the instability of our lives and spirits back at us but they do so in a manner suffused with hope as much as dread," said Frank. "With the paintings in "Punctuated Equilibrium," Alison Hyman and Elaine Asarch translate the tenor of the times into signals of resolve and transcendence, beauty and mystery distilled from anxiety."

Punctuated Equilibrium is a theory of evolution first developed by American paleontologists, Stephen Jay Gould and Niles Eldredge. The theory states that evolution is not a slow, gradual process. Evolution is long periods of stability broken by shorter periods of rapid change. The collection of paintings captures these periods of infrequent, rapid change and comments on the long-lasting impact they have on society.

At its center, Punctuated Equilibrium highlights the voices and experiences of women, as they mature in parallel to these events that contribute to the evolution of humanity. "As these changes occur, our energy is dissipated by our nurturing of partners, offspring, and parents," said artist Alison Hyman. "Our energy is spread thin, and it is only after the constraints of being female in society have been loosened, that we are finally free to voice our creativity loudly and clearly."

"During this period of COVID, there has been an altered state of reality," said artist Elaine Asarch. "Many of us have lived with isolation and concern for the health of our loved ones over the last two years. It is our hope that we are moving towards new beginnings, with optimism in these uncertain times. World events have changed all of us and Alison and I have a greater appreciation of what is important in our lives."

The exhibit opens Friday, May 6, with an intimate talk by Los Angeles-based art critic, curator, and historian Peter Frank beginning at 5 PM. The exhibition will be open to the public Saturday, May 7 from 10 AM to 4 PM and will be accessible by appointment, from May 8 to May 20.

About Alison Hyman

Born and educated in Glasgow, Scotland, Alison Hyman, received her BA (Honors) at Glasgow School of Art, and her MA at Strathclyde University. She has exhibited throughout Scotland in the 1970s (and at the Old Vic Theatre in London in 1980). Hyman moved to southern California early in the new century, receiving her MFA from Laguna College of Art and Design and exhibiting in Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Coachella Valley.

Artist Statement: My art explores time, the energy particles we are made of, and how we are always in motion and changing. Nothing stays the same and as such, we are different people at the beginning of the painting than at the end. I layer colors and textures to make the surface almost a living, breathing entity. My ambition is to make the surface look organic, aged, worn, and full, like mold growing on an old wall or moss on an aging tree. Posing the question "Is that growth or decay?" I create images that do not look "designed." The patterns that do appear do so by chance. Life is a constant exhibition of patterns reacting and interacting creating a perpetual flow.

About Elaine Asarch

Elaine Asarch has been drawing and painting since her childhood in Des Moines, Iowa. She received her BA from the University of Iowa in Education and minored in Art History. She continued her studies in the graduate school of anthropology at the University of Colorado in Denver. Asarch received an Interior Design degree from IDI in Denver and was a practicing designer and member of the American Society of Interior Designers for over 30 years. She has painted at the Art Students League in Denver for the past decade and now paints in her own studio. Asarch has participated in many solo and group solo exhibitions and her paintings are in collections throughout the United States.

Artist Statement: As a painter, I like to explore what cannot be seen and express that elusiveness on the canvas. My work emerges from the energy of the physical landscape, going on to create landscapes of the imagination. Art is not representational for me. It is the emotion I like to convey. Like sand, our landscapes continue to change in the world. Erosion, rebuilding, and light peering through cracks, reflect existential anxiety and necessary optimism forming an unstable partnership much like walking on a loose rock. Our priorities shift as we experience shifts in the world. Painting allows me to find balance with a visual language that expresses the tension between angst and hope.

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Kassie Winchester: kaw@kwinchester.com