Pushing the envelope with mundane, everyday materials, Dan Steinhilber's show now at G Fine Art is a multidimensional and thought provoking exhibit. Steinhilber incorporates ordinary media to create a cohesive show where the images flow from one to the next and each element incorporates the last, sharing common themes. Packing peanuts, garbage bags and florescent light bulbs are cast in a new light with photography, sculpture, drawing and installation.

The walls of the gallery display Steinhilber's photography of packing peanuts (pictured). They are large, grainy, black and white, closeup shots of packing peanuts in motion. Each composition is reminiscent of breaking waves. He has presented an often captured cliché and replicated it with an odd material. The juxtaposition is peculiar, showing the poetry of motion, but with a pedestrian material.

Stumpy mounds of packing peanuts, vacuum sealed in black garbage bags, sculpted and twisted into organic forms litter the floor. Each are unique and fashioned to show off the texture of the material. Small details emerge as each individual peanut is visible as well as the swirls from the ends of the garbage bags. The sculptures are both smooth and stubbly at the same time. The decaying shapes are slightly reminiscent of Magdalena Abakanowicz's backs. They are similarly shaped; dark, twisted and bulbous, radiating gloom.

Using bits of plastic bags, Steinhilber "paints" on freezer paper. His compositions are very minimal and the bits of bag applied to the paper take on paint qualities. The ridges of the plastic look like thick oil paint, smeared on a canvas. These drawings are held up by X's of tape, which end up being distracting and drag the quality down. Steinhilber describes his drawings as "seeing plastic bags floating in the air, caught in a tree, or blowing down a city street. The drawings with torn bags suggest the failure and vulnerability of our bodies and culture; and the freezer paper suggests an act of preservation and a desire not to die." American Beauty, anyone?

Another element in the show is a light installation. Cordoned off by a wall of black plastic, continuing one of the material themes, the installation is dark and eerie. It is disorienting and takes a while for the eyes to adjust to the low light. Eventually, flickering shapes emerge. Thin tubes of light are arranged in different configurations. One sculpture consists of scattered leaning lights, arranged like tall blades of grass or thin trees. Another gathers the lights against a corner, precariously perched in a tee-pee shape, looking fragile and highly unstable.

Continuing the light theme, a lone photograph and sculpture of a broken florescent light bulb seem out of place. The sculpture dangles from the ceiling and points to a hub cap that holds pieces of the light's broken glass. The photograph shows a smashed florescent light bulb that is arranged in the shape of a whole bulb, with the shattered pieces gathered in a long thin line. While these two components relate to the installation, they seem more of an after thought because of their singularity, whereas the other elements in the show are multiples.

Image courtesy of G Fine Art.

Dan Steinhilber's work is on display at G Fine Art now through April 26. The gallery is located at 1515 14th St. NW and is open Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.