If you ask Austin Eddy what his work is about he'll tell you point blank that it's about love and loneliness. There's nothing to hide. The work is formally and literally black and white to him, although far from simple. Painting on raw canvas, Austin limits the palate, and size in order to reveal ultimate honesty. Without color, there is no other tricks to pull. His extensive bank of mark making and paint handling on the raw canvas mimics the complexity of a single raw feeling whether it be catching a moment of lovers at night, or the deflated feeling of loneliness. On the other hand, Eddy's playfulness and inventive mark making brings a lighter side to seeing the work as fun. The work reflects on history and progress simultaneously in a way that the viewer can almost see how each painting's surface was constructed with carefully ... placed marks, mistakes, and solutions. In many ways, the raw canvas sets Austin up for some kind of mistake, however you rarely see it unresolved. Eddy shows an intelligence for executing this kind of problem. It'll Be Ok is a direct reflection of the faces in day to day life from self doubt, to loneliness, to deep love and fear.

While spending time with the 50 paintings exhibited in It'll Be Ok, not only does the viewer realize Austin is building these people but he's breaking them down at the same time. It's a show of builders and breakers: cowboys, cowgirls, tears, couples, lonely eyes, dreams, beaches, walls, drinking, and friendship. It seems as though Austin uses the cowboy image in place of himself within the reoccurring visual alphabet. However, he is hardly removed from the work. From painting to painting he portrays a deep dark corner of his insides that can range from appearing subtle to almost achingly sad. There's something so Johnny Cash about the work that gives off a feeling where reaching in that deep can feel good. Hung all together there's a feeling of pulling from the inside out.

'You'll walk into the room and be surrounded by people,' he says. 'Each painting is its own story'. Austin Eddy shines light into the darkest holes with these paintings in a way that gives himself and the viewer the assuring feeling that ultimately it will be ok.