Mood Musing

There's a hypnotizing movement to Natvar Bhavsar's massive abstract pieces. Layers of bold color, rich texture and patterns echo the rhythm of our natural surroundings. Bhavsar's distinctive style is inspired by his Indian heritage and influenced by the abstract expressionists and color field painters of the 1960s. He stands above an acrylic-saturated canvas and precisely drops powdered pigments at varying heights through a sieve or screen. What emerges from the thick layers of color are cloudlike, swirling formations that some suggest mimic celestial starscapes, solar maps or even drifting sand. In Sangam, 2005 (pictured), which will be a part of Contessa Gallery's Natvar Bhavsar: Resonance of Color exhibit opening Feb. 10, hazy oranges and browns frame nuanced grays and blues that beckon the viewer to look deeper. "Looking at art is like meeting a person, in a way. You try to find your own impulses, your own personal feeling [about them]," explains the New York City-based artist. "That is the exchange I try to get from the viewer." 24667 Cedar Road, Lyndhurst, 216-382-7800, contessagallery.com