Bay area artist Timothy Berry's paintings are riddles in which unexpected juxtapositions of objects suggest ambiguous or open-ended narratives. Richly-hued, sensously-rendered exotic fruits and flowers intertwine human, mythic and nursery rhyme characters and metaphoric objects. These images, culled from the past, represent ideas or memories which take their significance from one's perception and history. The spatial relationships within the paintings, orga- nized from front to back and back to front, suggest the overlapping, interrelated quality of memory as it emerges from the sub-conscious. Berry has compared his work to Tibetan monastic paintings -- narrative icons meant to "instruct and delight." The paintings invite contemplation and interpretation without providing answers. They instead offer the viewer several paths of meaning stemming from his or her own personal experience.           xxxxxxxxxxxx     Form As Circumstance 2003 oil, toner, encaustic on paper on canvas, 18" x 14"   Mad Idea, 2003 oil, encaustic on paper and canvas, 28" x 23"                     HideKnowing 2001 40" x 38", oil and encaustic on canvas over wood   Kin Stranger 2001 40" x 38", oil and encaustic on canvas over wood                     Quell 2000 49" x 47", oil and encaustic on canvas over wood   Making Special 2000 31" x 21", oil and encaustic on canvas over wood