Elizabeth Leach Gallery opens an exhibition of new paintings by Barbara Sternberger called With What We Have this September. For the show Sternberger continues what always is at the core of her practice: the essential act of presence. The title derives its name from a demanding but vital principle: only the materials required are in front of her, and the only moment is now. Rather than approaching the canvas with a plan or destination, Sternberger enters the studio each day with a simple intention: to paint from exactly where she is, with exactly what she has.
Deeply shaped by the tenets of Ch'an Buddhism, her process is one of continuous receiving and releasing, paint applied and removed, color laid down and dissolved. These works do not accumulate toward a predetermined image; they emerge from one. What is revealed is not a picture of something remembered, but the living record of a mind fully inhabiting the present. With What We Have is an invitation to stand before these works, let go of expectations, and accept the present moment as it is.
