Peter Olson & Issac Payne at Blue Spiral 1

Opening Reception: Friday, July 3rd (5-7pm)

July 3 - August 26, 2026

Our summer showcase brings together two artists who draw inspiration from the living pulse of America’s cities and her crowds.

Charlotte-based painter Isaac Payne depicts the fast and often ruthless changes to modern landscapes, as new construction obliterates old landmarks and once familiar neighborhoods are lost to gentrification. The artist’s process mirrors his subject: Payne works on paper, building complex architectural drawings only to cut them down, rearrange their elements, and collage the scraps into new compositions. Standing in front of his work, viewers often experience a sense of the past and present of a particular place shimmering in and out of focus.

Philadelphia artist Peter Olson is similarly drawn to cityscapes, though his focus turns to the crowds that inhabit their streets and thoroughfares. A lifelong photographer, Olson throws each of his porcelain vessels by hand before transferring original photographs of people and design elements to the clay. Candid captures of tourists, commuters, and passerbys parade across his beautifully traditional forms, blithely unaware that they are being immortalized. At their smallest scale, the figures become so detailed and dense, their braided repetition forms decorative patterns that call to mind ornate works of antiquity.