At The Werk Gallery, the exhibition Suns Out Buns Out explored the body in all its forms and interpretations. Local artists from Sarasota, St. Pete, and the Tampa area presented their visions of what the body means for them.
The body is not only flesh, also appears as lines, shapes, and colors, textures, perspectives, shadows, blurs, and subtle suggestions. The body is also the gaze we give it: our look gives it color, focus, sometimes distorts it, sometimes sharpens it. IIn a way, we could almost say that our gaze—or gazes—produces the way we perceive the body: its value, its texture, its sensuality, its meaning, its possibilities…
The charcoal strokes of James Hartzell, with figures standing tall, exposing the body to the open air, or retreating in moments of privacy and protection. His work captures vulnerability and strength simultaneously, portraying the male body as fragile and the female body as strong, subverting traditional stereotypes.
I was particularly drawn to the drawings of Sandra Lefever, made with crayon and Indian ink. In her works, bodies appear from delicate, graceful angles, in natural and comfortable postures. They convey enjoyment of the body itself, free from the constraints of fashion or forced poses. Muscles and flesh fold and stretch naturally, without tension or pressure, as if the body exists solely for itself, surrendered to its own rhythm.
The use of color in the paintings of Shreidan Zacchio reminded me of bodies as maps of temperatures—zones of warmth, textures in the skin, valleys, and craters. A similar vibe came from Vera Nye’s work, though in her paintings the body is fragmented, like the remains of a classical sculpture.
Overall, Suns Out Buns Out invites us to see the body differently—not only symbolically, but also as a visual and sensory experience. The body is volcanic, dynamic, and far more than it appears at first glance. It is not just a form, but a sensation, a mood, a presence shaped by our gaze.
the present tense 
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