Start date: January 5th, 2026
End date: January 30th, 2026
Butterfly Effect is an invitational exhibition curated by artist and gallerist David Klarén, who invited artists from across Wyoming to create new work inspired by the concept of the “butterfly effect.”
“The first time I heard about the Butterfly Effect, it went something like this: A butterfly flaps its wings in Peking, and New York has rain instead of sun. The theory is closely associated with mathematician and meteorologist Edward Norton Lorenz. He noted that the butterfly effect is derived from the example of the details of a tornado (the exact time of formation, the exact path taken) being influenced by minor perturbations such as a distant butterfly flapping its wings several weeks earlier,” Klarén wrote.
Klarén encouraged participants to interpret this idea by stepping outside their normal mediums, approaches, and genres. The result is an exhibition that is both visually compelling and conceptually diverse, highlighting the many ways small actions and subtle shifts can ripple outward into profound change.
After its debut in Pinedale, November – December 2025, Butterfly Effect will travel to the Art Association Gallery for the month of January 2026.
Join us for the exhibition reception and curator’s talk on January 15, 2026 from 5pm – 7pm in the Art Association Gallery.
Jim Kopp
Title: Pink Monster & Friends
Medium: Arylic on Wood Assemblage
Price: $225
Artist Statement: I’ve been creating as a self taught artist for 25 years I really had no desire to ever pick up a paintbrush I was more interested in music especially playing the drum kit but when my mother passed away I began painting as a a subconscious therapy another catalyst was seeing the work of American folk artist Howard Finster through my paintings you can find echoes of western medieval art with its highly stylized flat perspective strange interpretations of animals and overall darkness folk art gallery’s see me as part of their genre when we finally met Howard Finster told me keep painting and don’t worry about what other people think of your art I’ve held onto that advice ever since.
James Overstreet
Title: Help
Medium: Oil on Panel
Price: $650
Pamela McCulloh
Title: Move
Medium: Mixed Media on Canvas
Price: $150
Holland Dutton
Title: Taking Flight
Medium: Antique Altered Book, Collage
Price: $265
Artist Statement: The butterfly effect poses the theory that a small , seemingly insignificant action can trigger a series of events that lead to large, significant outcomes. what becomes when in the beginning there is the flutter of a kaleidoscope of butterflies taking flight a soft whispered word a single musical note breaking the silence in the dark.
Brianna McFarland
Title: Veil Between Worlds
Medium: Mixed Media on Canvas
Price: $1,850
Artist Statement: Raised on a ranch in the Black Hills of South Dakota and mentored by my artist grandmother, I developed a deep reverence for the wild beauty of the American west. My work explores this terrain through contemporary lens, blending expressive abstraction with detailed realism to capture the regions untamed spirit. I use alcohol inks, fluid acrylics, and experimental techniques to evoke the sweeping movement of western landscapes. these fluid forms are wildlife , creating a dynamic tension between chaos and control, tradition and innovation. this interplay reflects the west itself a place where vast skies meet intricate natural life. each piece is a visual dialogue between freedom and focus, inviting viewers to experience the west as i see it luminous, raw, and alive. my goal is to honor the lands complexity while pushing the boundaries of modern western art.
Bronwyn Minton
Title: Silvery Blue
Medium: Watercolor and Ink on Paper
Price: $150
Mary Thompson
Title: Distant Cousins
Medium: Mixed Media on Canvas
Price: $600
Artist Statement: Mary Thompson has called Sublette county home for nearly 50 years. she has an art history and studio studies background, and aesthetics has always driven her work. only recently has she begun to paint in earnest.
Trista Niekum
Title: The Rise of Industry
Medium: Watercolor
Price: $100
Artist Statement: this series explores the butterfly effect through humanity’s pivotal shift from a nomadic to a sedentary life one small change that altered not only the course of our species but also the earth thousands of years ago as humans settled in place the foundations of civilization began to take shape from this moment unfolded the rise of industry livestock cities and cropland each a ripple expanding through time these paintings reflect how that single decision to stay put set into motion the vast and complex systems that define our modern existence.
Trista Niekum
Title: The Rise of Livestock
Medium: Watercolor
Price: $100
Artist Statement: this series explores the butterfly effect through humanity’s pivotal shift from a nomadic to a sedentary life one small change that altered not only the course of our species but also the earth thousands of years ago as humans settled in place the foundations of civilization began to take shape from this moment unfolded the rise of industry livestock cities and cropland each a ripple expanding through time these paintings reflect how that single decision to stay put set into motion the vast and complex systems that define our modern existence.
Trista Niekum
Title: The Rise of Cities
Medium: Watercolor
Price: $100
Artist Statement: this series explores the butterfly effect through humanity’s pivotal shift from a nomadic to a sedentary life one small change that altered not only the course of our species but also the earth thousands of years ago as humans settled in place the foundations of civilization began to take shape from this moment unfolded the rise of industry livestock cities and cropland each a ripple expanding through time these paintings reflect how that single decision to stay put set into motion the vast and complex systems that define our modern existence.
Trista Niekum
Title: The Rise of Croplands
Medium: Watercolor
Price: $100
Artist Statement: this series explores the butterfly effect through humanity’s pivotal shift from a nomadic to a sedentary life one small change that altered not only the course of our species but also the earth thousands of years ago as humans settled in place the foundations of civilization began to take shape from this moment unfolded the rise of industry livestock cities and cropland each a ripple expanding through time these paintings reflect how that single decision to stay put set into motion the vast and complex systems that define our modern existence.
Dan Abernathy
Title: A Paradox and Insignificant Ripple in the Chaos Theory
Medium: Ink and Arylic on Wooden Panel
Price: $1680
Josh Baldwin
Title: One Small Choice, Years of Regret
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Price: $1500
Madeleine Murdock
Title: Earthquake
Medium: Mixed Media
Price: $150
Samantha Soper
Title: Tread Lightly
Medium: Cardboard
Price: $550
Artist Statement: There are a few things that I will never be able to forget. I’ll never be able to forget waking up to the sound of elk bugling to one another in the morning. I won’t ever forget the sound of wind through tall trees or what it feels like to ride a horse bareback down a mountain with no trail to follow. I will never be able to forget that as a child, I thought the woods and mountains went on forever; that if I was careless, I could walk into them in one direction and never run into a human being again. If only the spirit of my home could speak, could walk, could glare, could suffer, and could trust in a human way, maybe people would look at it.
The cardboard tree-figures I have built—full bodies and limbs alike—are my best effort to personify complicated thoughts and feelings I have about the spirit of the landscape I grew up in, and the way that I feel in my heart, we are changing it for the worse.
This particular work explores an aspect of my sense of loss I have yet to look head on: that in part my resistance to change—in all its diverse potential—plays a role in my own suffering.
Jocelyn Slack
Title: Flow
Medium: Watercolor Graphite
Price: $375
Artist Statement: Flow: to proceed issue forth i am in awe of the interconnectedness of our existence, all forces and beings on earth under the influence of our spinning planet fluid geology oceans atmosphere plant animal forms the chambers of the human heart how everything contributes to this interwoven flow like the delicate wings of a butterfly travel weary and wind torn from their life spans journey.
Jennifer Hoffman
Title: Dispersion
Medium: Linen Cotton Vintage Fabric
Price: $375
Artist Statement: The smallest steps seeds infinite ripples through the ground through the mycelium tree roots and fauna nestled in humans and leaf matter through the oxygen and helium and carbon dioxide molecules through the water vapor and cloud forms other ripples disperse intersect disrupt dissolve we affect and are affected.
Linda Ryan
Title: One Less Scale on a Fish
Medium: Mixed Media
Price: $160
Artist Statement: Often what appears to be an insignificant encounter experience or moment may later be realized as a redirect or recalibration in the words of Rainer Maria Rilke let everything happen to you beauty and terror just keep going no feeling is final.
Alice Pang
Title: Changing Course
Medium: Stoneware, Porcelain
Price: $800
Artist Statement: When I floated the Snake River for the first time this fall I was struck by how rivers change not just from a year to year but day to day rifting earthquakes and scouring glaciers can shape a river over millennia but so can falling branches and shifting stones everyday. The creation of this piece over 60 hours of Nerikomi in the form of the Snake River gave me time to reflect on the power of small changes just a single stone shifting slightly can change the course of a river a single act of care can change the course of a life hours after dropping off my piece I rushed to the airport and was lucky enough to fly over the exact section I had inlaid catching the last light at dusk it was such a special moment.
Cristy Anspach
Title: Good, Bad and Ugly
Medium: Assemblage of items
Price: NFS
Artist Statement: Good, Bad and Ugly is an experiential exploration into the effects and repercussions, both positive and negative, of advances and innovations in technology. Originally conceived as a performance piece, it quickly became apparent that the artist’s dreadful ability as an FPV pilot necessitates the performance to occur remotely for the safety of bystanders. While she practices to improve her skill, video will have to suffice. Does technology outrun our collective understanding of how to manage it? Are some people damaged by the same technologies from which others benefit? Are individuals or populations both assisted and injured by advances in tech? Do the same innovations simultaneously help and hurt people? It seems to the artist that the answer to all these questions is “yes”. This assemblage and video performance is an artifact of the artist’s playful engagement with the serious concepts accompanying the rapid advancement of today’s tech.
Curious what’s in the eggs? Feel free to have a look!
Samantha Soper
Title: Tread Lightly
Medium: Cardboard
Price: $550
There are a few things that I will never be able to forget. I’ll never be able to forget waking up to the sound of elk bugling to one another in the morning. I won’t ever forget the sound of wind through tall trees or what it feels like to ride a horse bareback down a mountain with no trail to follow. I will never be able to forget that as a child, I thought the woods and mountains went on forever; that if I was careless, I could walk into them in one direction and never run into a human being again. If only the spirit of my home could speak, could walk, could glare, could suffer, and could trust in a human way, maybe people would look at it.
The cardboard tree-figures I have built—full bodies and limbs alike—are my best effort to personify complicated thoughts and feelings I have about the spirit of the landscape I grew up in, and the way that I feel in my heart, we are changing it for the worse.
This particular work explores an aspect of my sense of loss I have yet to look head on: that in part my resistance to change—in all its diverse potential—plays a role in my own suffering.