Butterfly Temple

Peter Harrington, Butterfly Temple, 2020. Oil on Canvas

Peter Harrington at Ellsworth Gallery

Artist and longtime Zen practitioner Peter Harrington combines ephemeral elements of nature with enduring symbols of spirituality.

His confluence of seemingly unrelated imagery suggests that temples, pagodas, and other structures related to the Eastern religious tradition of Buddhism are not the only places afforded for worship, sanctuary, and spirituality. Nature, too, is its own temple. Natural and man-made forms coexist in his surreal compositions, not in opposition but in unity.

“As a painter, an intuitive pathway opened up to me about 25 years ago, a kind of personal artistic koan, which I am following to this day,” Harrington says in a statement.

His solo exhibition, Moth Wings and Pagodas, invites meditative inquiry and displays a joyful whimsey. The show continues through Jan. 9. Masks are required.

Ellsworth Gallery, 215 E. Palace Ave., 505-989-7900, ellsworthgallery.com