An art show not far from om
Large, brightly colored canvases and Buddhist cosmological themes will grace the walls of the Newport Visual Arts Center, when two new exhibits hit the Nye Beach based venue beginning this Saturday, June 5.
In the Runyan Gallery, the aptly named Whitney Nye will exhibit “Sightseer,” a collection of new large-scale collage and acrylic paintings, each reflecting her unique sense of abstraction and rhythmic exploration.
“When I’m working, I’m in the piece and lose track of time,” Nye said in an interview for Bend Magazine. “It’s a reactionary process. I make a mark and another mark and can get obsessive in the process, and I have to know when to get off the train.”
Nye grew up in Bend, though spent many years creating work in her Portland studio.
“We are pleased to bring Whitney’s work to the Oregon Coast,” said Visual Arts Center Director Tom Webb. “The VAC enjoys drawing connections to artists working in Central Oregon and throughout the state.”
Nye’s most recent one-person exhibition was at the Laura Russo Gallery during May. Other recent exhibits have been at the Liberty Arts Collective in Bend and the Portland International Airport. She has received a Career Opportuning Grant from the Oregon Arts Commission and was selected by The Ford Family Foundation for a Golden Spot Artist Residency at Camp Caldera in Sisters. Her work is in various permanent collections, including the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon and the Oregon Health and Science University.
Meanwhile in the Upstairs Gallery, Rachel Hibbard will exhibit “Tree of Living Things,” a collection of oil, encaustic and gesso paintings reflecting Buddhist cosmological charts.
“I am interested in the astounding ways these Buddhist charts compress information and their use of both organic and geometric forms,” Hibbard said. “The act of painting, the scale and slight irregularity of each panel, and the gesso I make are all linked for me. The way forms are built out of the paint has a logic that cascades out of each previous decision.”
Portland-born Hibbard is a graduate of the Pacific Northwest College of Art and earned her MFA from the University of Michigan. Her work has been exhibited at The Chicago Cultural Center, State of Illinois Gallery and the Blue Sky Center for Photography and the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art. A teaching artist, she has led projects for Gallery 37, Orlo, the Cascade Forest Alliance and Willamette Riverkeepers. Hibbard is also an instructor in the Portland State University School of Art and Design.
The exhibits will run through Saturday, July 31 at the Newport Visual Arts Center, located at 777 NW Beach Drive and open on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 4 pm. Gallery receptions with the artists are not currently scheduled, though online interviews and events are being planned for June and July. For more information, go to coastarts.org.