Artist Steven Cushner has filled three full rooms at Hemphill Fine Arts with his geometric abstract paintings that explore conflict and difficult choices. Working in acrylics and watercolors, he arranges both familiar and unusual shapes in precarious or straining positions, always questioning whether the pieces really fit. Whether you’re a fan of abstract art, or if you looked at the image of the painting on your right and thought, “I have no clue what that's supposed to be,” you’re in luck. Cushner, along with Jeff Spaulding, currently showing his abstract sculptures at G Fine Art, will be giving an Art Talk at Hemphill this Saturday, May 13 at 10 a.m.

Cushner centers on two kinds of conflict on his canvases. The first involves the proper fit and sequence of his geometric shapes. With this method, the artist often creates a struggle to build things – bridges, buildings, even paintings within the paintings – with shapes that are difficult to connect into a sound architectural scheme. In one of his more representational pieces, Rainbow Bridge, each uniquely-shaped fragment sits atop one another in an unsteady, Jenga-like fashion. The resulting structure is both attractive and slightly awe-inspiring in its ability to stand upright. If his shapes aren’t being stacked, they are squeezing into puzzles or waiting to be properly aligned into coherent forms; each scene resonates with the challenge of trying to fit unfamiliar pieces into complete and sturdy arrangement.

The other conflict comes from dramatic layering. Cushner’s geometric shapes usually sit atop simpler, but still bold, backdrops. In some of the paintings, such as Building Blocks, this layering seems like little more than a colorful background, perhaps contributing some harsh color contrasting. In others, the effect is nearly an optical illusion, allowing bold, strong shapes to float far above the canvas. This is the experience in One Way or Another, in which the shapes do, in fact, seem to be moving in and out, one way or another, perhaps shifting and jostling in an effort to find their proper altitude.

A concern with the show, however, is that there are just too many pieces in it. Except for one rather cool installation by John Watson, the entire gallery is filled with Cushner’s paintings, nearly 20 of them. That’s a fairly enormous number for your standard size D.C. art gallery. This would be less of a concern if about a third of the artist’s contributions weren’t virtually identical to other pieces in the show. While he may have been trying to highlight how variances in color schemes affect the end result, the overabundance of the same material makes his artistic product seem more routine than unique. Both the artist and the gallery would have been better served with a smaller show.

One standout piece, Road to Nowhere (pictured), combines the best of Cushner’s abstract and semi-representational styles (and also happens to have a virtually identical sister piece). In this watercolor on paper, squares are lined up like stepping stones, traveling all over the canvas but ending abruptly when there is nowhere left to turn. The size and shading of the squares make you wonder if perhaps your eyes are betraying you and they are actually the same size, but floating at varying heights as the ocean-like background seems to undulate underneath it.

Hemphill Fine Arts is located at 1515 14th Street, NW and is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Steven Cushner’s show will run until June 17, 2006, and his Art Talk with Spaulding is Saturday, May 13 at 10 a.m.