EJ Hauser: Sun Water Sky

Derek Eller Gallery is pleased to present a solo show of new work by EJ Hauser entitled Sun Water Sky. Inspired by natural phenomena, guided by a process that begins with drawing, and mindful of the act of observation, Hauser makes paintings which fluidly exist between abstraction and representation, combining the graphic symbolism of repeated motifs with the gestural language of poetry.

Mostly intimate in scale, the paintings in this exhibition invite close viewing, an immersive concentration which effectively “opens the imagination to something vast” according to Hauser. This act of beholding is central to the work. For Stars Reflected, Hauser recalls the magical experience of falling asleep in the studio and waking up in the night to the sight of the calm creek outside their window, perfectly reflecting the celestial sky. It is believed that ancient Mayan astronomers may have created still pools of water to observe the heavens, a kind of liquid mirror, that allows one to look down in order to look up.

The stars and planets are included in Hauser’s visual repertoire, which also encompasses landscape elements like mountains and ocean waves. Additional subject matter includes vessels and medicine bottles, fragments of text and the shapes of letters – these calligraphic marks become a scaffold for the architecture of the compositions. Silver paint also appears in a number of works including Minnows Shimmer and Lilac Waves. Connected to alchemy and the element mercury, it is a reflective pigment which, like the still water, mirrors the environment.

Reflection and observation are key elements within Hauser’s process which, at its very foundation, is about drawing. Visual ideas are generated through the act of drawing, and the translation of drawing to painting is fundamental to understanding the work. This translation takes many forms: sometimes Hauser “delivers” the drawing into the painting through direct observation; other times they employ various digital processes to map out the basic composition; and on occasion, both analog and digital means are used for translation. Drawings operate as a free and flexible space to develop and arrange motifs into images.

Even though Hauser’s recognizable motifs are echoed throughout their work, it is the swift brushstrokes, the staccato line, the layered color that makes it something else, something familiar yet inscrutable. Hauser explains, “I am attracted to abstraction's ability to create a poetic understanding of ‘meaning’ in art making. Big subjects like the sea, the complexity of the natural world and our intersection within it, or the boundlessness of space cannot be illustrated, so I appreciate the language of visual abstraction for how it lets meaning stay open, moving, and mysterious.”

EJ Hauser (b. 1967; Peru, IL; lives and works in NYC and Ulster County, NY). They have had solo exhibitions at Haverkampf Leistenschneider, Berlin, Germany (2023); Parrasch Heijnen, Los Angeles (2023); Anton Kern, New York (2022); and Regina Rex, New York (2017), among others. They have also participated in group exhibitions at Anton Kern Gallery, New York (2025); Orwell’s Garden, Brooklyn (2024); Tops Gallery, Memphis (2022); The Pit, Los Angeles (2021); PALFREY, London, UK (2021); Olympia Art, New York (2021); and Shrine and Sargent’s Daughter’s, New York (2019). In the Fall of 2026 Hauser will lead an Atelier at the New York Studio School. This will be their fourth solo exhibition at the Gallery.