"Patterns", an exhibition of paintings by Cheryl Battiato

Patterns of many sorts underlie all of Battiato's work. For Battiato, art is a way of understanding and ordering the world, and patterns are the key to that process. On a literal level, Battiato uses the repetitions of wallpaper or chain link fences as a solid ground against which isolated images of cows or pears stand out. On a more metaphorical level, these patterns represent the everyday habits that can be repeated like a mantra to contain and ward off the difficult times life brings. In "Michael's Magic Blankie", for instance, the mundane portraits of family members become talisman, repeatedly brandished for protection against her son's looming illness.

Family is at the heart of Battiato's work, and many of her floating images represent aspects or memories of members of her family. Domestic details like tea kettles and electric fans draw attention to themselves through size or repetition, and ask us to acknowledge how small pieces of the everyday become intertwined with the important events of our lives. Battiato's paintings are also a respectful nod to the generations of women before her whose creativity was largely confined to the domestic realm, where they made beautiful things out of useful objects.

Many of the pieces in this show are the result of a layperson's very personal exploration of scientific concepts that touch upon her life. Battiato's monotypes include a sequence of images exploring DNA and heredity. They represent one section of a broader exploration of family relationships and genetics started by She's Such a Clone of Her Father. Battiato's work suggests how science has become part of our everyday understanding of the world, but also suggests that we struggle to make sense of what such theories really mean to us.

Battiato has been showing in and around San Jose since 1993. She received her M.F.A. from San Jose State in 2000.