A & E

It's been a year since Christo Braun's first solo show at Elan Fine Art Gallery in Sewickley and a lot has changed. Back then, he was a recent transplant from San Francisco, trying to grapple with a new life. But, now, he is firmly rooted in his adopted home -- living in Edgewood and back to making his art with all the confidence of a mid-career painter.

In the past, Braun's luminous paintings -- not traditional paintings, mind you, but pigmented-resin concoctions trowled onto sheets of stainless steel -- were decidedly abstract. Now they are directly inspired by nature, as in "Setting" and "Fruiting," which both resemble tree groves, or "Blooming," which is undeniably a rose.

Still, Braun's works delightfully straddle the line between abstraction and representation, thus allowing the viewer a chance for a more emotive response to his work rather than falling back on literal interpretation.

That is why one must see these works in person to truly appreciate them. The translucent glazes of pigmented resin on the reflective stainless steel shimmer and change as one's point of view changes.

Some of the pieces can be compared to the works of certain Impressionist painters. One cannot look at "Floating," for example, and not think of Claude Monet's (1840-1926) "Water Lilies."

As with that painting, bodies of water seem to be an obsession. No doubt a byproduct of working with such a translucent medium. "Rising (atoll)," "Breaking (wave)" and "Openwater#1," all conjure memories of the seashore.

Braun says "Breaking (wave)," celebrates the "glorious moment captured by the flow of water and the grace of gravity." "It is a rare representational piece that simply makes my heart glad," he says.

And as for "Openwater#1," it's the first in a series of paintings, which has led to 53 more.

"Water in all its variety has always fascinated me: the ways that it makes me feel when I am immersed in it, when I gaze upon it, how it mesmerizes me as it moves, its incredible relationship with color and translucency, time and temperature, emotion and sensation -- you get the picture," he says.

One of the reasons Braun has felt so at home here is the encouragement he has received from his fellow artists. Earlier this year, he was asked to design sets for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's world premiere of "glint." It was performed at the Byham Theatre in February as part of "Forever Love," the ballet's Valentine's Day production under the guidance of artistic director Terrence S. Orr.

"My work as a scenic artist was to collaborate with choreographer Lauri Stallings and singer-musician B.E. Taylor," Braun says. "I created five large-scale works to integrate with the music and dance, which, around and upon at times, the dancers and B.E Taylor performed," Braun says. "I also painted a section of the floor within which a dancer was rolled up like a Tootsie Roll at one point."

Braun says the performance was funded by PPG Industries, makers of the resin he uses to create his works, which is why he was chosen for the project. "It actually happened, wholly or in part, because of my work with resin," he says.

"Listening," a vibrant green and red piece in this show, was inspired by music in the ballet. Like that painting, not all of the pieces in the show draw inspiration from nature. "Riding," which looks like bicycle track through a shimmering silver puddle, was the result of just that, the artist literally riding his bicycle over the painting.

"Fluxing," a triptych made with magnets underneath three aluminum panels holding resin and ferrous metal powder, was created after conversations Braun had with the late Jack Shearer, a photographer friend whose photographs of magnetic imagery greatly resembled Braun's own abstract compositions.

"This piece is the first composition with that inquiry in mind," Braun says, of the piece that looks like trays of gunpowder. "Utilizing different sizes, shapes and types of magnets of varying strengths, the images came to life by themselves, revealing the energy within them.

Braun says that correlations between these simple constructions and the forces of natural phenomena are what stimulate his imagination. "This and my own sense of creative expression have already furthered my process of discovery," he says.

Even so, he proceeds with caution, ever aware of the viewer.

Pointing to "Merging," another translucent blue piece that was inspired by tide, seashore and rushing water, he says, "Light, form, color, and expression merge in this composition for me." Adding without a beat, "I like the viewer to engage in my work, to see what their mind's eye sees more than my own, because a great work of art should transcend a single definition."

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