“SEAWALL, CLEARING AFTER RAIN”: This oil on linen work is featured in “Christine Lafuente: The Air Between,” on view May 4-31 at Morpeth Contemporary in Hopewell. A reception is on May 4 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Morpeth Contemporary presents new work by Christine Lafuente, an artist inspired by the beauty of nature, in “Christine Lafuente: The Air Between,” on view May 4-31 at Morpeth Contemporary in Hopewell. A reception is on Saturday, May 4 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Be it outdoors in Maine or in her Brooklyn studio, the same questions inform her paintings: How does fog reduce color? How does the sun at once create and break down forms? How does mist accentuate light? How do flowers offer such saturated color? 

Lafuente’s landscape paintings first evoke a sense of place, be it meadows, rocky beaches, or ocean horizon lines. She captures them, en plein air, with painterly intent and curiosity. “I am drawn to subjects that I don’t fully visually understand, that are mysterious, elusive, and may only present themselves poetically,” said Lafuente. “Often, I think: ‘I don’t understand what I’m seeing, but maybe I can understand what I’m seeing by painting it.’”

This contemplative process is also what viewers see in her “still life landscapes” executed in the atmosphere of her studio, where peonies and buttercups meet peaches, cherries, and objects from the artist’s cabinet. Here, Lafuente’s brush continues to delight in the dissolving shadows and prismatic colors that captivate her outdoors.

Lafuente earned a Certificate in Painting and Printmaking from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1995), and a Masters in Fine Arts at Brooklyn College (2004).

Morpeth Contemporary is at 43 West Broad Street in Hopewell. For more information, call (609) 333-9393 or visit morpethcontemporary.com.