T he expressionist paintings of Helga Windle present a realm in which reality and imagination meet. A native of Iceland and a resident of New Zealand, Windle draws upon these dra­matic landscapes for her subject matter. Leaves, celestial bod­ies, and moving water are transformed from precise natural objects into pliant, fluid, vibrant figures that speak of their for­mer selves in abstracted terms. These organic forms imbue the composition with an almost mystical aura, no doubt a reflection of the artist's desire to depict "the physical and spiritual world as one." This is accomplished through the use of rich color and bold lines rendered with brush strokes sometimes intense, other times diffusive. The resulting images appear to be bathed in natural light, illuminated by the bright rays of the sun or the shining glow of the moon.

D emonstrating, in tangible form, how individuals create and reinforce their own reality through the activity of interpreta­tion, Anja Schiissler's enigmatic images are like mirrors, subtly and exactly responsive to the mind-set of the viewer. Encouraging each individual to "experience his own fear, become aware of his own desire" and "find his own truth" in her paintings—as well as in the world at large—Schussler implicitly guides her audience to examine responses to her art in light of their own interior realities and outward projections. Like Narcissus enraptured by his own reflection, the viewer is confronted by an emotionally compelling yet insoluble visual riddle, as in "The Arrival".Here, a faceless female figure in bestial pose, uncannily reminiscent of William Blake's Nebuchadnezzar, seeps inexpli­cable blackness from her face and palms. What one sees in this intentional void might well be the true 'mirror image' of the self, a projection of one's own fantasy or shadow. Through the juxtaposi­tion of soft colors, and strong, inky contour lines, Schussler high­lights the binary nature of ordinary consciousness and the duality of existence. Casting models as no less than archetypal forces, she attempts to reconcile the rational and intuitive, the seen and the unseen, the sacred and profane—through mythic representa­tions of human paradox and contradiction. Like medieval scribes who believed that gazing into a mirror as they wrote would en­sure "that their sight may not be dimmed", German artist, Anja Schussler, uses the mirror of her own perception to alight dim corridors of consciousness where truths may be obscured but exist nonetheless. Visionary artist and skilled engraver of hand-carved cameos, Anja Schussler currently lives and works in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, famous for it's design and manufacturing of precious stones and jewelry.

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