David Molesky’s show at the Barracks Row gallery the Fridge, “Air/Water,” is full of surreal colors, bursts of fire and crashing ocean waves.

The artist was inspired by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010. “I hope to bring some awareness and appreciation for the beauty of nature and an awareness for what we’re doing to it without getting too literal,” he tells HOH.

Molesky, a Washington, D.C., native who grew up in Northwest D.C. and Bethesda, said he has always been interested in the environment and has volunteered with the conservation club at the National Zoo.

With clouds and waves full of pinks, greens and reds, the show conveys a toxic world using colors not typically associated with nature. He was also inspired by other environmental mishaps. He created his cloud paintings, he said, after seeing the damage caused by the wildfires near Los Angeles.

The San Francisco-based artist has shown in museums and galleries around the world, including the Baltimore Museum of Art, Passenger Fabrik in Munich, Germany, and the Grand Central Art Center at California State University, Fullerton.

“Air/Water” runs through Sunday at the Fridge, 516 ½ Eighth St. S.E.