On view November 7–28, 2026. An opening reception will take place Saturday,

November 7, from 3–5 pm at the gallery’s Bergamot Station location. The artist will be present for

a walkthrough.

Susan Dory’s paintings explore how color gives shape to perception. In Love’s Dart, overlapping

bands of translucent paint build geometric structures around open centers. Drawing on the square

as a stabilizing boundary within mandalas, Dory creates compositions that accommodate subtle

shifts in depth and luminosity. Rounded corners and interrupted sequences guide the eye through

arrangements that seem to change as attention moves across the surface.

Yellows, pinks, and oranges take on greater prominence in this series, alongside pale blues,

greens, and darker passages. Dory brushes and pours fluid mixtures of acrylic paint and medium

onto canvases laid flat, building numerous layers whose translucency preserves earlier decisions.

Colors change where they overlap, and bands appear to advance or recede in relation to their

surroundings.

This gradual emergence relates to Dory’s interest in the moment an idea becomes a coherent

thought. Her compositions develop through testing, adjustment, and discovery, retaining the

accumulated experience of their making. Open centers give the paintings a contemplative

spaciousness, allowing color and structure to offer new relationships with each viewing.

Susan Dory is based in Seattle and received her BA from Iowa State University. Her honors

include the Neddy Award, a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, and an Artist Trust Fellowship. Her

work is held in collections including the Tacoma Art Museum, the Ballinglen Museum of

Contemporary Art in Ireland, and the Microsoft Collection.