Under Control: Navigating Intention and Uncertainty
Starts: Sunday June 7, 2026
Meet The Artists: Sunday June 7, 2026 between 1 - 4pm
Where: Atelier Ironwood, 1425 Lakeshore Rd. NOTL (2nd fl.)
Featuring Artists: Alex Chorny, Brad Eyre, Jadyn Deming, Ana Norton
Ends: Glass Room: Sunday, June 21 Terrace: Sunday July 5
***Opening in conjunction with Pride Niagara’s closing day celebrations
Under Control reflects on the human desire to manage outcomes while acknowledging the inherent limits of control. The exhibition considers how we navigate a world that resists perfection; where structure meets disruption, and intention is continually shaped by forces beyond our command. In this space, control is not presented as absolute, but as something negotiated: a shifting balance between discipline and surrender. Under Control asks us to reconsider our relationship with uncertainty, suggesting that within unpredictability lies not failure, but possibility. By embracing imperfection, whether in art, nature, or daily life, we open ourselves to deeper understanding, resilience, and a more nuanced appreciation of process.
Expanding on this premise, the exhibition brings together four artists whose practices engage with control as both method and concept. Each artist operates within systems—scientific, material, gestural, or structural—where outcomes are guided but never fully determined. Their works reveal that precision and unpredictability are not opposing forces, but interdependent conditions that shape the act of creation. Across disciplines and media, these artists explore how boundaries can be tested, redefined, and, at times, relinquished altogether.
From the calculated influence of natural forces to the transformation of intuitive gestures into structured compositions, from the interrogation and reconfiguration of everyday objects to reveal the systems that shape lived experience, and to the slow, irreversible mark-making of pyrography, Under Control unfolds as a meditation on process. It highlights the importance of allowing a margin of error; of recognizing that deviation, disruption, and even imperfection are not flaws to be corrected, but essential elements of discovery. In doing so, the exhibition mirrors the broader human experience: learning when to assert control, when to let go, and how to find meaning in the space between.
FEATURED ARTISTS
Alex Chorny explores the intersection of science, philosophy, and visual expression, using natural forces such as magnetism and gravity as both medium and subject. His work demonstrates that even within carefully constructed frameworks, external forces introduce variability, creating a dynamic tension between precision and emergence.
Brad Eyre’s abstract paintings embody a negotiation between instinct and structure. Beginning with gestural, intuitive applications of paint, his process embraces spontaneity before reasserting control through the careful imposition of geometric order.
Ana Norton’s sculptural practice investigates structures through a hybrid practice, queering found objects through both digital and physical processes. By translating objects into new forms, her work illuminates the control that structures maintain over our lived realities. Transformation becomes central to her practice, where each iteration accepts change and brings structures to light through its effects on the objects in our daily lives.
Jadyn Deming’s pyrography practice is rooted in patience, precision, and attentiveness to material. While their imagery captures the delicate intricacies of the natural world, the act of burning into wood introduces an element of irreversibility that resists total control. Their work embraces this tension, revealing how careful intention and material response coexist to produce quietly powerful, imperfect beauty.
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To book your seat contact Margie Galita at margie@armstrongfac.com
ARTIST TALK
Sunday June 21, 2026 1pm to 2:30pm
An artist talk with Alex Chorny
In this dynamic artist talk, Alex Chorny reveals how experimentation, play, and natural forces shape his unpredictable, process-driven work—inviting audiences to embrace curiosity, risk, and the unexpected.
