Abstract Exhibit ‘Cardinal Points’ At Pearl Street Gallery

A traditional landscape has a horizon line, and all of Lindsey Fyfe’s little paintings conform to that rule in a minimalist, stripped-down way. As Fyfe’s canvases get bigger, however, she tosses aside the rules. She lets her instinct, her arm and the “velocity” of the paint take over, resulting in a more abstracted interpretation of the concept of the landscape.

“Having a large canvas in front of me lends to a gestural style of painting. There’s excitement in using the full reach of my arm,” Fyfe says. “I’m very attracted to the materiality of the paint, taking it to its full potential.”

Fyfe, of Hartford, is known in the city’s art community as the education director at Real Art Ways. An exhibit of her work, a collection of oils on canvas or board, is up now at the 100 Pearl Street gallery downtown.

“The Mountain” depicts a peak in the center of craggy, irregular brush strokes evoking a feeling of movement. Fyfe began the painting as a mountain, but it took a vacation to Maui for her to realize that her image “was waiting for that trip to become a volcano.”

“Arcs and Waltzers” suggests the crazy velocity of the carnival ride it is named after.

“I wanted spinning, moving, being a little disoriented, not knowing which way is up and which way is down,” she says.

The orange-dominated “Knockout” is humorously titled, referring to her practice of starting a painting and then rethinking it to turn it into something else. It reflects a new direction in Fyfe’s art.

“I’m trying to become more comfortable with abstraction, less referential,” she says. “It’s a new direction, to focus purely on abstraction.”

“CARDINAL POINTS” will be at 100 Pearl Street Gallery, in the lobby of the office building at that address in Hartford until June 3. Gallery hours are weekdays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon. The exhibit is sponsored by the Greater Hartford Arts Council. letsgoarts.org/gallery.