Art opening night | As We Are: Fracture, form, & myth of perfection

||| FROM TERA ANDAYA for MUST GALLERY |||

ART EXHIBIT OPENING NIGHT EVENT
AS WE ARE: Fracture, Form & The Myth of Perfection
Friday, August 8th, 6 PM
Orcas Island Winery’s Must Gallery

Must Gallery — the modern & contemporary pop-up gallery at Orcas Island Winery — and HALO are proud to present As We Are: Fracture, Form & The Myth of Perfection, a new exhibition featuring the never-before-seen, evocative works of local artists Christian Carlson and Ayame Bullock. The exhibit opens with a free, public event on Friday, August 8th at 6 pm. Food from The Kitchen, wine and artwork will be available for purchase. Music provided by Pedro Lopez DeVictoria.

As We Are unites the abstract paintings of Christian Carlson and the contemplative sculptures of Ayame Bullock in a meditation on longing—not for possession, but for connection and balance. In a culture obsessed with polish, their works offer a quiet rebellion: a return to fracture, asymmetry, and imperfection. Together, they dismantle the myth of human exceptionalism, revealing perfection as a modern delusion. What emerges is a tactile, open-ended dialogue with nature and form—an embrace of beauty that is vulnerable, raw, and real. Beauty that exists most truthfully in tension, in polarity.

Christian Carlson’s paintings reveal a deep engagement with memory, texture, and mark-making. Layered and architectural, his works echo the Pacific Northwest’s physical landscapes and internal ones, too — meditative, grounded, and elemental. This is the artist’s first time exhibiting fine art on Orcas.

Ayame Bullock’s sculptural works explore the tensions between opposites: Masculine/Feminine, Stillness/Movement, Bold/Soft, Fragile/Strong. They exhibit a richly layered vulnerability that requires deep thoughtfulness and practiced application. This is her first time exhibiting fine art on Orcas.

For Tera Andaya, MUST is her heartspace. As she puts it,“Working with and alongside artists has been and will continue to be my life’s calling. Must is a space where I can continue to channel what I’ve studied, practiced and put tremendous passion into for over twenty years. It’s where I can share how I see the beauty in others and the world around us – and hopefully inspire, bring people together and bring beauty to a world so hungry for it. Now, more than ever, is the time for the artist.”

HALO is powered by volunteers who believe in our island artists. “The collaboration between MUST & HALO has been a profound one,” according to artist Kate Geddes. “As an artist without a studio or gallery, I have been grateful for HALO’s support and for the opportunity to show my work in their first collaboration with MUST. The show inspired me and has led to interest in my art and shows off island.”

Must is a conceptual pop-up gallery on Orcas Island curated by founder Tera Andaya. HALO (Hub for Arts & Literature on Orcas),, is a nonprofit whose mission is to raise the visibility of fine artists on Orcas Island and inspire the next generation. As We Are is their third collaboration.

The exhibition runs through September 30th, 2025. All art inquiries may be directed to:
tera@mustcreative.co or hello@orcasislandwinery.com

Special thanks to the Orcas Island Winery & Must Gallery for their ongoing commitment to making contemporary art visible and accessible in a rural context. As We Are marks another beautiful intersection of art, land, and community.

To learn more about the artists:
www.christiancarlson.com
www.ayameceramics.com

To learn more about HALO & Must or sponsor one of their exhibits, please visit:
www.wearehalo.org/must

Carpooling encouraged. Families welcome.
Orcas Island Winery: 2371 Crow Valley Road