July Exhibits: Annaliese Allen, Ramon Aguirre, Kevin Johnson, Nate Travis
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4 Solo Exhibits featuring:
Annaliese Allen - Offcuts
Ramon Aguirre - Wither
Kevin Johnson - Rebirth
Nate Travis - Left to Write
Opening Reception
Friday, July 3rd, 4-8pm
Annaliese Allen – Offcuts
Annaliese has expanded her material exploration by gathering discards, transforming them into unique sculptural forms. Fascinated by the material transformation that begins to occur with the assembly of a single material, Annaliese’s work utilizes her community and foraging skills for sourcing of her materials. Offcuts is a collection of eighty-eight individual works made primarily from the wood scraps of art students at The University of Kansas. Utilizing the wood scrap bins from the KU’s wood shops, Annaliese has laminated, carved, and shaped the discarded scraps into an archive and library of wood. Teak, cherry, walnut, black walnut, oak, ash, purple heart, pine, fir, olive, birch, eastern red cedar, maple, poplar, ebony, and lacewood make up most of the offcuts. As the saying goes, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” which begs the question: wood you call this trash?
Unlike most works in a gallery, viewers are invited to touch and move the pieces around the panels that hang on the wall.
Ramon Aguirre – Wither
Dead Flowers, decaying forms and the elegance of entropy
I paint things that I’m drawn to visually — withering flowers, distorted figures, strange landscapes, and forms that feel worn, fragile, or in the process of changing. I’m interested in the tension between beauty and discomfort, and in how decay or damage can sometimes make something feel more alive or human.
A lot of the imagery develops intuitively while I work. I usually begin with a rough sketch or shape rather than a fully planned image. For me, painting is less about illustrating a specific idea and more about following a feeling or atmosphere until the piece becomes emotionally convincing. Much of the work comes from getting lost in the act of painting itself.
Ultimately, I paint because I enjoy building images and discovering unexpected relationships within them. The subjects simply reflect the kinds of forms and environments I find compelling, unsettling, and strangely beautiful.
Nate Travis – Left to Write
In my newest collection, Left to Write, I try to explore political and social division through public interaction. Each month between February and May I presented two opposing figures back to back inside a custom, rolling studio, equipped with markers, pencils, crayons, and paint markers. This series invites viewers to write directly onto portraits depicting political, religious, and cultural figures – transforming each piece into a living record of reaction, disagreement, humor, anger, and vulnerability. Created during a time of deep, cultural polarization, the work examines what happens when people are given permission to leave their Mark beside those they oppose, admire, or misunderstand. The resulting pieces become less about certainty and more about collision: layered conversations that are at once chaotic, revealing, unsettling, and deeply human
Kevin Johnson – Rebirth
Rebirth explores the quiet moments of transformation that often happen beneath the surface before they are ever seen by the world. Through layered imagery and symbolic forms, this body of work reflects the movement between struggle and renewal, fragility and strength, memory and becoming.
Natural elements appear throughout the work as subtle echoes of growth, freedom, transition, and peace. Rather than existing as literal symbols, they move through each composition like fragments of emotion and thought—soft reminders that change is rarely sudden, but instead unfolds over time through reflection, endurance, and hope.
The figures and environments within these paintings exist in a space between the physical and the spiritual, where color, movement, and texture become part of an internal dialogue. Each piece speaks to the power found within transformation—the ability to evolve, adapt, and continue moving forward despite uncertainty. The work reflects the idea that growth often requires release, courage, and the willingness to step into unfamiliar spaces in pursuit of something greater.
At its core, Rebirth is about emergence and resilience—the understanding that change can become a source of strength, and that every stage of life carries the possibility of renewal, purpose, and new beginnings.
Annaliese Allen - Offcuts
Ramon Aguirre - Wither
Kevin Johnson - Rebirth
Nate Travis - Left to Write
Opening Reception
Friday, July 3rd, 4-8pm
Annaliese Allen – Offcuts
Annaliese has expanded her material exploration by gathering discards, transforming them into unique sculptural forms. Fascinated by the material transformation that begins to occur with the assembly of a single material, Annaliese’s work utilizes her community and foraging skills for sourcing of her materials. Offcuts is a collection of eighty-eight individual works made primarily from the wood scraps of art students at The University of Kansas. Utilizing the wood scrap bins from the KU’s wood shops, Annaliese has laminated, carved, and shaped the discarded scraps into an archive and library of wood. Teak, cherry, walnut, black walnut, oak, ash, purple heart, pine, fir, olive, birch, eastern red cedar, maple, poplar, ebony, and lacewood make up most of the offcuts. As the saying goes, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” which begs the question: wood you call this trash?
Unlike most works in a gallery, viewers are invited to touch and move the pieces around the panels that hang on the wall.
Ramon Aguirre – Wither
Dead Flowers, decaying forms and the elegance of entropy
I paint things that I’m drawn to visually — withering flowers, distorted figures, strange landscapes, and forms that feel worn, fragile, or in the process of changing. I’m interested in the tension between beauty and discomfort, and in how decay or damage can sometimes make something feel more alive or human.
A lot of the imagery develops intuitively while I work. I usually begin with a rough sketch or shape rather than a fully planned image. For me, painting is less about illustrating a specific idea and more about following a feeling or atmosphere until the piece becomes emotionally convincing. Much of the work comes from getting lost in the act of painting itself.
Ultimately, I paint because I enjoy building images and discovering unexpected relationships within them. The subjects simply reflect the kinds of forms and environments I find compelling, unsettling, and strangely beautiful.
Nate Travis – Left to Write
In my newest collection, Left to Write, I try to explore political and social division through public interaction. Each month between February and May I presented two opposing figures back to back inside a custom, rolling studio, equipped with markers, pencils, crayons, and paint markers. This series invites viewers to write directly onto portraits depicting political, religious, and cultural figures – transforming each piece into a living record of reaction, disagreement, humor, anger, and vulnerability. Created during a time of deep, cultural polarization, the work examines what happens when people are given permission to leave their Mark beside those they oppose, admire, or misunderstand. The resulting pieces become less about certainty and more about collision: layered conversations that are at once chaotic, revealing, unsettling, and deeply human
Kevin Johnson – Rebirth
Rebirth explores the quiet moments of transformation that often happen beneath the surface before they are ever seen by the world. Through layered imagery and symbolic forms, this body of work reflects the movement between struggle and renewal, fragility and strength, memory and becoming.
Natural elements appear throughout the work as subtle echoes of growth, freedom, transition, and peace. Rather than existing as literal symbols, they move through each composition like fragments of emotion and thought—soft reminders that change is rarely sudden, but instead unfolds over time through reflection, endurance, and hope.
The figures and environments within these paintings exist in a space between the physical and the spiritual, where color, movement, and texture become part of an internal dialogue. Each piece speaks to the power found within transformation—the ability to evolve, adapt, and continue moving forward despite uncertainty. The work reflects the idea that growth often requires release, courage, and the willingness to step into unfamiliar spaces in pursuit of something greater.
At its core, Rebirth is about emergence and resilience—the understanding that change can become a source of strength, and that every stage of life carries the possibility of renewal, purpose, and new beginnings.
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Where is it happening?
125 E Boulder St, Colorado Springs, CO, United States, Colorado 80903
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherAuric Gallery
