Sisters Within Circles

Magnetic Flow by Jacqueline May

Abstract painting is sometimes burdened by theory and required reading. Alternatively, there are the works of Abstract Expressionism, which are innately violent and often imposing with large scales and physical strokes. "Circles" features abstract art that falls between these stylistic extremes. Artists Benné Rockett and Jacqueline May (who edits the Chronicle's visual arts listings when she isn't painting) have created well-composed abstract works that achieve sophisticated tones while remaining approachable and attractive. A rigorous intensity is conveyed through the subtle density of paint in intricately applied multiple layers, yet the works feature personal motifs and their titles belie their intimate nature.

Rockett evokes mystery through doilies and monograms. Her diptych Canopy begins with white lace over blue. The lozenge pattern of the lace provides the structure, then painted cloud-shapes effortlessly morph into circled flowers. She uses green pigment in beeswax, clear wax, and off-white to grassy-green paint. This transparent layering gives the flat pattern an incredible depth of field. In a few spots, those green shapes merge into larger, bluish petri-dish-sized circles. As a final flourish, small dark-red ribbons twirl through the greenery. It's a lovely abstraction, richly detailed but unified and wholesome.

Jacqueline May's Full Circle: Mineral Wells is a symbol-laden map of her past. It's fluid, pinkish, and soft. Rolling peach fields of wax obscure a map of the town of her birth. As she builds up the pink-pigmented wax, she cuts into its depths and invites you to discover the wealth that lies there. Watersheds and natural resources are important to her, but one need not know that to enjoy the piece. One topographical tidbit unearthed is the reverent-sounding Eagle Mountain Lake. Another name peeking through is White Settlement, inferring a PC historical awareness. The organic molten flow of the 3-by-3-foot piece is overlaid with a perfect circle of black map pins. The circle is completed: May has moved on.

It is rare to be able to describe the work of two different artists as similar, but this exhibit is eerily consistent in this regard; it's as if May and Rockett exchanged secrets midprocess. On one wall, May hangs Magnetic Flow, a bright orange line over the complex lavender/gray/gold of a square. Hung next to this are five square boxes by Rockett. The 3-inch boxes begin with a rich but ruddy orange under-painting glazed with beeswax layers on which soft bluish gray patterns ricochet around the squares. The pieces hang together elegantly in this show. Sister pieces with different materials in harmony. It's an unplanned dream come true: two deep talents colliding without friction.