Opening Night: Friday, April 24 | 6 to 8 pm | On View Through July 19
Curated by Julie Eppich of EPPICHarts
Three artists. Three distinct materials. One exhibition rooted in the natural world.
This spring, Jessup Cellars is proud to present Elemental³, a group exhibition featuring Suyao Tian, Jess Nokori of Studio Nokori, and Greg McGrath, each exploring elemental forces through a distinct practice and material. Curated by Julie Eppich of EPPICHarts, the show opens with a public reception on Friday, April 24 from 6 to 8 pm at the Jessup Cellars Tasting Gallery in Yountville, and remains on view through July 19.
RSVP for the April 24 Opening Reception
What Is Elemental³?
The title captures both the number of artists and their shared territory: earth, water, nature, and the textures and forces that define the physical world. Tian, Nokori, and McGrath arrive at those subjects through entirely different hands and materials. The result is an exhibition that rewards looking slowly.
Works range from large-scale botanical watercolors to small, precise geometric abstractions on handmade paper to carved wood sculptures drawn from the Napa Valley landscape. Fragility and strength sit alongside each other. Careful structure emerges from an intuitive process. The natural world is both subject and medium across all three practices.
Meet the Artists
Suyao Tian
Suyao Tian was born during the one-child generation of China in the 1980s and developed painting as a personal language for connecting with the world. As a child, she collected small insects, finding in them a private vocabulary. Those symbolic forms continue to appear throughout her work today.
Tian works primarily in watercolor, layered with fine pen marks that add depth and definition to each piece. Her creative process involves extracting fragments of memory, then separating, reorganizing, and integrating them into botanical and nature-inspired compositions drawn from dreams and subconscious imagery. Tian is based in Minnesota.
Jess Nokori / Studio Nokori
Jess Nokori is an intuitive, analog abstract artist working with watercolor and ink on paper. Each piece functions as a contained visual system, balancing chaos and structure through intuitive decision-making. The work is informed by Japanese printmaking and modernist design traditions, including Bauhaus and mid-century modern influences, alongside close observation of the visual rhythms found in everyday environments.
The organic textures of handmade paper allow water, pigment, and gesture to interact naturally, producing compositions that balance spontaneity with quiet, underlying structure. Nokori is based in Oregon.
Greg McGrath
Greg McGrath is a Napa Valley-based sculptor working in carved wood. His pieces transform natural material into sculptural forms that echo the strength and endurance of trees and landscapes, grounding the exhibition in the physical presence of the earth. His work ranges from larger sculptural forms to intimate miniatures.
A Conversation in Contrasts
What makes Elemental³ worth experiencing is the dialogue that develops across three very different practices. Tian’s work floats and blooms. Nokori holds its ground in structured marks and contained systems. McGrath anchors the room in wood, weight, and texture.
Together, the three create a conversation between fragility and permanence, between intuitive process and deliberate form, between the personal and the elemental. Curator Julie Eppich has placed these voices in thoughtful relationships with each other, and the result is an exhibition that deepens with time and attention. Three artistic visions, united in a shared reverence for the elements.
Join Us for the Opening Night Reception
The opening reception is free and open to the public. Come celebrate the art of watercolor and the natural world, explore all three bodies of work, and spend an evening in the gallery with wine and good company.
Friday, April 24
6:00 to 8:00 pm
Jessup Cellars Tasting Gallery
6740 Washington Street, Yountville, CA
RSVP Here (appreciated, not required)
Elemental³ remains on view through July 19 during regular tasting room hours, 10 am to 6 pm daily.
Visit the Gallery During a Tasting
The gallery is open daily alongside our tasting room. Guests are welcome to explore Elemental³ during any visit. To plan a seated tasting while you are here, reserve your spot on Tock.
All works are available for viewing and purchase during gallery hours. For private viewing appointments or collector inquiries, contact us through our art gallery page.