In the traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement,
mizugiwa means the point where the water and plant meet. In English, that's better known as the shore or bank, which doesn't seem nearly as poetic. In
''Water's Edge (Mizugiwa)'' at Catherine Couturier Gallery, Houston artist Libbie J. Masterson explores this intersection through a series of photographs. Captured all over the world, the pictures are dramatic landscapes that have washed out most color in favor of blue tints and black and white. In the closely cropped
Early Canal (3FJ5140), the vegetation is blacked out — trees and plant life are silhouettes against the white sky and the subtle ripples of the water. Still other images use a tint that turns everything, even the plant life, blue. In
Camargue (3FJ5072), for instance, both water and land exist in similar hues of bluish-green — they're on the same wavelength.
Though it's the focus of her photographs, the water isn't always obvious and doesn't always seem to be the main subject. In Road St. Remy (3FJ4943), it's hidden and needs to be found among the dominant, massive trees and lush bushes. But it's always there, whether stretching gloriously across multiple prints, as in Loire River Triptych, or traveling endlessly towards the back of the frame, as in Chenonceau Canal, beautifully lit the whole way.
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Through August 31. 2635 Colquitt. For information, call 713-524-5070 or visit www.catherinecouturier.com. Free.
Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: June 7. Continues through Aug. 31, 2013
