There’s always something a bit tragic and sensational about sea stories— that passion for the open sea, for the things that drift away. The sea is the place where men choose to be, where the ladies along the way are as fleeting as ever. A life of squandered happiness. In this husband and wife joint show, “Sea of Love,” Ferris Plock and Kelly Tunstall create men that are wild-eyed, delirious with wanderlust while the women are serene, swan-necked creatures of the sea.

The pieces are large-scale, drawn on wood panels and set to dramatic lighting. The contrasts are high, with soft, muted, chaparral colors and heavy, black outlines and bold thick, bands. Tunstall handles the female roles, while her husband, Ferris, is at the helm for the masculine; both artists solid in their highly stylized renditions.

They use bold geometries and spatial understandings required of graphic design. Formally trained, Tunstall can handle classical figure painting— no problem. But that’s not what she’s interested in. Like the art of the 60s, in Tunstall’s work there is the desire to move elsewhere— to redirect the focus from contemporary pathos to some otherworld. Translating these dreamy figures to the canvas is Tunstall’s talent. Paring the design aesthetic of 60s starbursts with steam-punky flying contraptions, “Sea of Love” draws you in with its hasty characters waiting for their sirens’ calls.

--Jolene Torr

(Images: Kelly Tunstall + Ferris Plock; Courtesy 111 Minna Gallery)