WHERE THE WORLD BREAKS

Sophia Grace Gallery
June 6 – August 29, 2026
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 6, 2026 • 5:00 PM

Where the World Breaks examines the collapse of a shared world.

Bringing together contemporary artists He Gong and Michel Angela Petersen alongside Pacific Northwest Mystic painters Thomas Wood, Tom Sherwood, Susan Bennerstrom, and John Cole, the exhibition explores a seam in consciousness that once held human experience together and now appears to be fracturing.

The exhibition recontextualizes the Pacific Northwest Mystics through dialogue with contemporary art. In the works of the Northwest Mystics, nature emerges as a unified spiritual field grounded in interconnectedness and metaphysical depth. Bellingham-based British-American artist Michel Angela Petersen extends this tradition through paintings, ceramic sculpture, and ceramic bas-relief works informed by the semiotic systems of the occult, creating a bridge between regional traditions and international currents of mystical thought.

Chinese contemporary artist He Gong presents a contrasting vision in which narrative fragments, space destabilizes, and meaning emerges through uncertainty and displacement. Together, Petersen and He Gong place the Northwest Mystics within a broader contemporary conversation about consciousness, reality, and the search for meaning.

At the heart of the exhibition lies a remarkable historical connection. During the late 1980s, Tom Sherwood met He Gong in China, beginning a friendship that continued throughout Sherwood’s life. Their relationship reveals an often-overlooked aspect of Pacific Northwest mysticism: its deep engagement with Eastern philosophies and natural metaphysics. Where the World Breaks brings this hidden lineage into view, connecting artistic traditions across generations, cultures, and continents.

Internationally acclaimed contemporary artist He Gong will travel from China to attend the opening reception. His work is currently being featured in the Venice Biennale and the New York Biennale, situating the exhibition within an important international dialogue.

During the opening reception, He Gong will be presented with Edgeworks, a volume of ekphrastic poetry published by Igneus Press and written by Whatcom County poets in response to his paintings exhibited in Sophia Grace Gallery’s inaugural 2025 exhibition, Maps of No Return.

Through painting, ceramic sculpture, and ceramic bas-relief, Where the World Breaks asks whether art can still hold together what the world no longer can.

Sophia Grace Gallery
2026 Main St., Ste. B
Ferndale, WA 98248

sophiagracegallery.com