Sanctuary
Exhibition opening October 17, 5-8 PM
On View through November 14
CK Contemporary, 246 Powell Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
Lauren@ckcontemporary.com
"Sanctuary" brings together the large-scale landscape paintings of William Nichols and the emotionally charged pencil drawings of Sara Gallagher in an exhibition exploring nature as a site of refuge, restoration, and human connection.
Held
PanPastel & Graphite on Paper
38"x26"
2026
Available through CK Contemporary
To feel held can be one of the more nurturing experiences for us as humans. It can provide tenderness, care, belonging, and acceptance — a quiet support that speaks more deeply than words. In times when we feel disconnected from family and community, when human support falls short, nature is there for us. It does not judge us. Perfect in its imperfections, it mirrors our own capacity for self-acceptance and nurturing. In its silence, we can let go, feel supported, find guidance and connection, and remember that we belong.
Has nature ever held you in a moment when others couldn’t?
Presence in the Wild Order
PanPastel, graphite, and acrylic gloss on paper
30" x 18"
2026
Available through CK Contemporary
To be oneself in nature is an act of presence; to be oneself in society is an act of resilience. We move through the world surrounded by pressures, expectations, and the awareness of being seen. Being witnessed by others can feel entirely different from existing alone within the wild order of nature. In solitude, we are free to be fully present—as expansive as the sea, tumultuous and radiant, connected to both the shallows and the depths.
What difference do you experience between being in a crowd and being alone in nature?
The Calm Cacophony: I Live my Life in Widening Circles
PanPastel and Graphite on Paper
16” x 12”
2026
Instrumental score by Jacob Aranda
Available through CK Contemporary
Purchase track on Bandcamp.
The Calm Cacophony: From the Shore the Depth Beckons
PanPastel and Graphite on Paper
16” x 12”
2026
Instrumental score by Jacob Aranda
Available through CK Contemporary
Purchase track on Bandcamp.
As both a visual artist and musician, Gallagher brings two lifelong creative practices together in The Calm Cacophony series. Each work combines drawing, painting, and original music, with sound created as an integral part of the finished piece.
The series is inspired by the constant activity of the natural world: endless foliage, rhythmic seas, the ongoing chatter of bugs and animals, the light and shadow that paint the static of a landscape—and by the inherent calm this sensory cacophony can bring to the human experience. Gallagher first completed the drawings, then invited her husband and musical collaborator, Jacob Aranda, to compose an original piece in response to each work. She then returned to the drawings, using the sound waves of those compositions to shape the clouds within the skies.
Listen and look as each work moves through its own swell of emotion, place, and calm cacophony.
The Slow Immersion
PanPastel and graphite on paper
28” x 38”
2025
Available through CK Contemporary
Sometimes we slowly step into the unknown… comfortable where we are, yet drawn by something new, alluring, and beautiful. So much that lies ahead is uncertain; at times, we’re thrown into it, forced to take the plunge. But other times, we’re granted the luxury of a gentle shift, where the ripple effects are minimal and we hold autonomy over how quickly to change, how deeply to dive. In these softer seasons, it’s important to pause and acknowledge them for what they are: moments of evolution unfolding at our own pace.
When was the last time you experienced one of these gentle evolutions in your life?
The Dialogue
PanPastel and graphite on paper
22” x 26”
2026
Available through CK Contemporary
We move through the world with many parts of ourselves shaping how we think, choose, and respond. There can be something profound in learning to be in conversation with those different parts—listening to what each one knows, recognizing which need care or space, and understanding which are better suited to support rather than lead.
Sometimes those inner voices surprise us. Sometimes we need something outside ourselves to help us understand them more clearly. Bringing the natural world into that dialogue can open us to feelings, questions, and insights we may not have reached on our own.
Which part of yourself are you listening to right now?
Listen and She’ll Move You
PanPastel and graphite on paper
38" x 26"
2026
Available through CK Contemporary
In the scheme of things, humans have occupied this planet for very little time. The wisdom held in the ground, the plants, and the sky reaches beyond what we can ever fully understand. To steward the land is not to control it, but to listen—to notice what it is telling us, and to act from there. If we allow ourselves the presence of mind to be still and attentive to the natural world around us, we may begin to understand which direction it is asking us to move.
In what ways have you been called to action by what the natural world around you has shown you?
An Echo of Becoming
PanPastel and graphite on paper
16” x 20”
2026
Available through CK Contemporary
Change does not always announce itself. Sometimes we are already in motion before we fully understand where we are going. It may begin as a subtle pull, a shift in attention, a growing restlessness, or the sense that something within us is moving toward what comes next.
We may not yet know the destination, but we can feel the change taking shape. In quiet places, away from the noise of expectation, the natural world can give us space to notice what is already moving within us and listen more closely to the direction it is asking us to take. Sometimes the path becomes visible only after we have begun to follow it.
Where do you feel yourself beginning to move?