Artist Timothy M. Treleases current exhibit at Deerfield Academy is a celebration of the natural world with found-object assemblages included as cautionary signposts.

It is not a mystery that we live in a precarious relationship with the natural world. Human behavior is having an enormous impact on the climate, said the member of the Visual and Performing Arts Faculty at the school.

Trelease is showcasing his new exhibit, Nature and Alchemy, at the von Auersperg Gallery at the Hess Center for the Arts at Deerfield Academy.

There are more than 35 pieces in the exhibit, including a display case of sketchbooks and additional photographs.

The work ranges in style from representational to abstract, with influences from Van Gogh, Gustav Klimt and Mark Rothko to Marsden Hartley, Joseph Beuys and Alberto Burri. Several of the pieces are visual interpretations of poems by William Blake, T.S. Eliot, Walt Whitman and Wallace Stevens.

The overarching inspirations come from a deep love for nature and an appreciation for protected land and National Parks, particularly Acadia National Park, 40 minutes from my studio in Blue Hill, Maine, he said. Some of the paintings could be described as bucolic or sublime, depicting scenes found along the Maine coast. There is also an awareness of the precariousness of our relationship to nature, the impact of human beings on the environment, and, quite frankly, a sense of impending doom.

The pieces, which include found objects, and the digital film, inspired by Eliot's poem, "The Wasteland," have a post-apocalyptic feel to them. There is an intentional tension built into the exhibit, between these polarities, Trelease said.

For the exhibit, the artist used oil paint on canvas, oil paint on found steel, found objects and oil paint on stacked canvases (assemblage), gicl prints, silver prints, ink on paper, charcoal on paper and a digital film.

Explaining the exhibits title, Nature and Alchemy, Trelease said the natural element is obvious because several of the pieces are of landscapes, ancient apple trees and natural specimens. The alchemical reference comes from his attempts to turn trash into treasure, to appreciate the simplest things in life. He incorporates found pieces of rusted steel into both self-portraits and abstract pieces, while also referencing simple found objects such as rusted nails and washers in other paintings.

The show is dedicated to the memory of the artists late father, Brian Trelease, who served as an inspiration for much of the material. The last portrait Trelease painted of his father is in the exhibit.

While my Dad was not an artist himself, he had an eye for what worked and an uncanny ability to identify my best work; he helped me see the forest through the trees on many occasions, Trelease said. After my Dad's passing, I gained a greater appreciation for my own mortality and an added boost of inspiration to make the most of every day.

Tim Trelease was born and raised in Springfield and earned a bachelors degree in fine arts from Rhode Island School of Design and a master of fine arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art. His work has been shown throughout the country, including solo exhibitions at The Bowery Gallery in New York City, Gallery One in Philadelphia and Paper City Studios in Holyoke.

Most of the work in his Deerfield Academy exhibit is for sale in the $500-to-$2,500 price range.

For more information about him, go to timothy-trelease-4l94.squarespace.com/about.

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'Nature and Alchemy' focus of Tim Trelease exhibit in Deerfield - MassLive.com