An excursion into the worlds created by two distinct artists that have the technical skill to convincingly create alternate places.
The exhibit featuring Erin McFarland and Lauren Pollaro with a reception on Friday, May 28, from 7 to 9 p.m. The show runs through June, 15.
McFarland is a woman of vision, with an individual style that convincingly creates a world inhabited by unique creatures. Women with dreamy and haunting eyes move freely in an ethereal wilderness among the animals. The fluidity of McFarland’s style enhances the other worldliness of her uniquely representational imagery.
“Erin’s work is often deceptive. It appears clean, simple, beautiful and direct. The beauty never leaves it. But as you sit with each piece you recognize there is nothing simple about either the image or the painting. Erin’s genius lies in the way she hides the work that goes into the piece and puts the focuses on what it is she has to say, something that also grows with every viewing,” says Steve Bowersock, gallery curator.
Pollaro’s work does much the same. Her assemblages of created and found components are deftly worked, and yet appear to have 
always been in the finished state – always meant to be. Her work appears effortless and predestined. The use and manipulation of medium, and applied paint places Pallaro’s assemblage squarely in the realm of art.
“Lauren demonstrates a sixth sense in combining colors and shapes. While her work appears sacred in the finished state, nothing is sacred in the making. She’ll tweak an item, add color and arrange until the ‘predestined’ form reveals itself,” say Bowersock.
Pollaro’s work incorporates a sense of place or landscape whether it gives "a feeling of the sea, desert or mountains as land meets sky," Pollaro says. The artist earned a degree in Fine Arts from the University of New Hampshire. She has been an art director for several magazines and projects as well as an illustrator and a seminar leader in the field.
Pollaro also creates jewelry in the style of her assemblage, which will be available.
The Bowersock Gallery will also exhibit the work of its stable and guest artists in its salon studio, including oils, watercolor, collage, multi-media, and sculpture of bronze, resin, mache and found objects. The artists, among the finest working in the Maine/New Hampshire seacoast area, include Dustan Knight, Sydney Bella Sparrow, Christopher Gowell, Patricia Kaufmann, Darlou Gams, Stan Moeller, Erin McFarland, Amy Palmer, Steve Bowersock, Kim Bernard, Jane Kaufman, Tess Feltes, Michael Palmer, Jeff Briggs, Lindley Briggs, Jeanne’ McCartin, Amy Palmer, Chris Volpe and William Thompson