by Ivy Moore

While some people stare with brooding eyes as a summer rainstorm robs the sun from the sky, others find peace among the deep grays and blues. Color has power. From the moment we slowly blink our eyes open until we seal them shut at night, color is what we see, wear and feel. So it seems fitting that Austin-based artist Sarah Ferguson made color the cynosure of her art. Using acrylic on canvas, she creates mesmerizing, velvety representations that feel digital upon first glance. Both delicate and bold, her work invites an uninterrupted gaze.

When the St. Edward’s University alumna began studying color, she realized the abundance of freedom it allowed her. Her art resembles her relationship not only with color, but with herself, and the ritual she follows when creating a new piece is an introspective journey. Ferguson says it’s an invitation to both the sublime and the applied. The dramatic geometric lines she combines with color gradient create unity and balance and, ultimately, she hopes, invites an inward awakening in others.

This is Ferguson’s first solo show at Wally Workman Gallery, kicking off with an artist talk on September 5 at 6 p.m. and an opening reception on September 7 from 4 to 7 p.m.