Art New England, 1996 December/January 1997

Mills Gallery, Boston Center for the Arts/Boston: "Natural Immersion"

(caption) Ann Christensen: "Caressed"

The landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted wrote, "A man in a hurry, a man moving fast, cannot enjoy scenery contemplatively." One hundred years later, with people moving even faster, we need a show like "Natural Immersion" to make us stop and look. This beautifully installed exhibition at the Boston Center for the Arts features nine inspired artists immersed in the light, form and feeling of the natural world.

Ann Christensen succeeds in her goal to "provide a charge to the heart, mind and spirit" through her gorgeously colored landscape paintings. Whether it is the circular pool of brilliant blue-green against the flat blue sky in "Caressed", purple water surrounded by thick green brushstrokes in "Perfectly Still", or the vivid southwestern sky and sand in "Voice of the Soul", these simple compositions are alive with color.

by Susan Mulski