WHAT THE IMAGINATION SEIZES

Perry Lawson Fine Art is pleased to present What the Imagination Seizes, an exhibition featuring paintings by Aubrey Saget, Niva Shrestha, Debbie Taylor-Kerman, and Jay Wu. In these works, the artists focus on specific aspects of their subjects, deliberately altering the original details—whether by painting over, adding to, wiping off, or ignoring them entirely. In doing so, they reshape their experiences, crafting a reality that reflects their unique visions. The exhibition title, drawn from a line in John Keats's The Fall of Hyperion, underscores the power of imagination in shaping our perceptions.

Aubrey Saget’s process begins by noticing the fleeting moments in our hurried lives. She takes hasty camera phone photos along her daily commute, during routine errands, and while on head clearing walks. Her images are transient, intimate, and nature-centric. The quickly photographed glimpses are slowed down through study and sketching, then carefully transformed into painted scenes. There is a cadence in how Saget controls the flow of her paint. Working wet-on-wet, she pulls, wipes away, and drags her pigments with thoughtful intent. This approach allows background colors to slip and melt into the foreground. Directional brush work and layering become strategies for organizing space. The results of this method are a wonderful glassiness and aurora to her marks. Our gaze is tempered and narrowed in as we reflect on time and place, and what we’re passing by as we move through our days.

Saget holds a BFA and an MFA from New York University. She is the co-founder of Studio 200 NYC–an artist-run collective that organizes traveling exhibitions, performances, and interdisciplinary workshops. She has recently exhibited her paintings at TOTAH, Halsey McKay Gallery, and James Cohan Gallery in New York. Saget was born in New York City, and currently lives in Los Angeles.

Niva Shrestha’s paintings are inspired by geometric puzzles of architectural elements. “From stairs to poles, boats to houses, every line and shape in the townscape are intertwined to create either the most dynamic movements or quietest stillness.” Painting on site, she immerses herself in these environments, allowing playful compositions to emerge. Her artistic process begins with a deep emotional connection to place, be it her hometown of Katmandu, her second home in Massachusetts, or other locations she’s visited. Drawing plays a crucial role in her work, serving as a way to simplify and abstract forms. Influenced by artists such as Stuart Davis and Nicholas De Stael, she explores the balance between real and imaginary spaces, often iterating and refining her work across multiple sessions.

Shrestha received her certificate in Painting from Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and BS in Computer Science from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  She studied with artist Jon Imber and she has exhibited in Galatea Fine Art, Boston; Attleboro Art Museum; Watson Gallery, Stonington; Turtle Gallery, Stonington, Cambridge Art Association, Zullo Gallery, Oxbow Gallery, Gallery 263 and Art Association of Harrisburg, Harrisburg. She lives and works in the Boston area.

Debbie Taylor-Kerman aims to create dynamic compositions for initial impact that capture viewers’ attention by first making them stop and look, and then by enticing them to stay and discover the subtlety within the paintings. Taylor-Kerman grew up in a working-class family in Scotland and was the first in her family to pursue a college degree. In London, she felt out of place in the upper-class art school environment, fueling her inner sense of being “never enough.” As an adult, she strives to heal from this narrative and fight for equality. Influenced by such artists as Max Beckmann, Egon Schiele, and Mark Rothko, she merges figurative and abstract art, building layers of paint and collage, exploring color, value, and play. As she says, “I find peace with all the imperfections within myself and my past, and this way of building an imperfect history feels like a cathartic and loving place from which my figures can emerge.”

Taylor-Kerman received a BA in Printed Textiles from the Liverpool School of Art. She pursued further art studies at St. Martin's School of Art in London and through the Creative Visionary Program led by artist Nicholas Wilton. In 1991, she moved to New York City to pursue a career as a textile designer. During the pandemic, she began working on her own artwork full-time and since then she has exhibited at several venues in the New York area. Her work can be found in private collections throughout the United States and around the world. Taylor-Kerman is represented by Globe Fine Art in Santa Fe, NM. She currently lives and works in New York City.

Jay Wu paints plein air as well as from photographs, creating a poetic impression of his reality. His intimate paintings may be small in size yet speak to a larger, spiritual relationship with his subject. On his walks and drives he pays attention to whatever catches his eye, knowing that there are innumerable potential paintings at his fingertips. Wu’s process involves three stages of seeing: “How will I transform from what I see, to what I want to see, to what I want you to see?”  When asked how he chooses a scene or subject, he pauses and considers, “They speak to me and you just have to be ready to listen.”  

Wu received a BA in studio arts and mathematics from Boston College and an MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He studied the artists, Jon Imber and Barnett Rubenstein and he has exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts; Galatea Fine Art, Boston; Attleboro Arts Museum; Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport; School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and gWatson Gallery, Stonington. He has received numerous awards including Prince of Wales Foundation Fellowship, First Award and the R. Tait McKenzie Medal. He lives and works in the Boston area.