HOLDING SPACE – A Thoughtful Exploration of Healing, Memory, and Material - Olivia Gallery

Jan Nakao, Chicago, 22"x28" oil on canvas

Holding Space - Opening Friday, September 5 from 5-9 pm

I’ve been painting for decades. There have been passionate periods resulting in prolific amounts of work, and slower times devoted to exploring technique and imagery. In both cases, the work was always created with sharp focus. Throughout my painting career, there have been many occasions when intense concentration evolved into meditation—dissolving my sense of time and allowing me to paint from the unconscious mind. Even now, I find that once the direction of a painting is established, I need to mentally step back to avoid interfering with a wonderful—and perhaps unexpected—outcome. I’ve come to believe that it’s a God thing.

I share this story because I recently received a press release for a show opening at the Olivia Gallery on Friday, September 5, from 5–9 pm, titled Holding Space - A Thoughtful Exploration of Healing, Memory, and Material. The exhibition brings together artists whose work seems to be guided by a divine influence. Whether understood as spiritual inspiration, an unconscious meditation, or an intuitive force, this influence becomes the common element that shapes each artist’s process. It is the thread of consistency that weaves through the exhibition and links the works together in conversation. 

Holding Space becomes more than a collection of individual pieces; it forms a shared reflection on the presence of something larger than the self within the act of creation. The exhibiting artists are Jan Nakao, Laurie LeBreton, and Macus Alonso. While the work of all three artists is outstanding, my attention turns to the two-dimensional pieces of Jan Nakao.

Influenced by Jungian analysis and trauma psychology, Jan Nakao’s paintings draw on the unconscious mind and the visual language of geometric abstraction. Guided by what the artist describes as a “third hand”—a sense of divine guidance that moves beyond conscious control—the imagery presents a conceptual environment that emerges from beneath conscious thought.

The imagery develops through repeated geometric shapes that often fall into rough, grid-like patterns, suggesting both order and instability. Rather than acting as rigid boundaries, the grids remain open and flexible, creating a rhythm that highlights variation and imperfection—resisting resolution. The paintings are less objects to interpret than spaces to encounter. They invite viewers to sit with ambiguity, letting meaning surface through experience rather than analysis. In this way, Nakao’s paintings act as both maps and mirrors: structured through recurring forms yet deeply personal in their emotional tone. They reflect a search for balance between chaos and control. 

Together, the works of Jan Nakao, Laurie LeBreton, and Macus Alonso offer a compelling exploration of the unseen forces that shape human experience. Each artist, through their distinct approach—whether Nakao’s intuitive dive into the collective unconscious, LeBreton’s tactile meditations on transformation, or Alonso’s vibrant investigations of form and movement—invites viewers to pause, reflect, and engage with the emotional and spiritual dimensions of art. The exhibition creates a shared space where intuition, ritual, and personal story come together, leaving viewers with a sense of reflection and the power of art.
An Artist Talk for Holding Space is scheduled for Saturday, September 13 from 1-3 pm.

Holding Space – A Thoughtful Exploration of Healing, Memory, and Material, continues through September 27. Olivia Gallery is located at 3816 W Armitage Ave, Chicago, IL 60647. Learn more at olivagallery@gmail.com

Jan Naka, Windows to the World, oil on canvas

About Oliva Gallery
Oliva Gallery is dedicated to showcasing exceptional work by contemporary artists with roots in the Midwest and beyond. Through exhibitions spanning painting, sculpture, and mixed media, the gallery fosters critical dialogue, interdisciplinary exploration, and inclusive cultural engagement.

About Jan Nakao
Jan Nakao, trained as a Jungian psychoanalyst, creates paintings guided by images from the collective unconscious. Her practice draws from decades of work in the field of psychological trauma and is shaped by intuition and the internalized “third hand.” The result is a body of abstract work rich with emotional depth and symbolic resonance. Nakao holds a Diplomate in Jungian Analysis from the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago (2005) and degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago and Champaign-Urbana.

About Laurie LeBreton

Working with handmade paper and natural materials, Laurie LeBreton constructs large-scale installations that reference ritual garments, natural growth, and inner transformation. Her sculptural work operates in the space between delicacy and resilience. These forms test the boundaries of material and meaning, offering viewers meditative entry points into the emotional and spiritual dimensions of healing.

About Macus Alonso
Macus Alonso’s geometric abstractions investigate structure, rhythm, and movement through color and form. A central theme in Alonso’s practice is the relationship between the body and spatial construction, drawn from multicultural influences and grounded in personal narrative. Her use of layered paint and structural patterning encourages a dialogue between spiritual exploration and material experimentation.