Nightingale show invites exploration, contemplation

Contact: Laura Hancock | University Advancement | lhancock@eou.edu

La Grande, Oregon – Contemplation, individual perception and use of space will be the focus of an upcoming show at Eastern Oregon University’s Nightingale Gallery this month. An opening reception will be held Saturday, Jan. 14, from 7-9 p.m., and the exhibit will run through Jan. 28.

"Afternoon Tea," graphite and watercolor on paper, by Leigh
Craven.

“We are pleased to present the mixed media figurative drawings and paintings of New York artist Leigh Craven, and the digital photographic installation documentation of Illinois artist Nancy Fleischman,” said Cory Peeke, Nightingale Gallery director.

“Leigh will show her work in the gallery's main space and Nancy will exhibit four large digital prints documenting her installation work in the gallery's installation room,” Peeke said. “Both artists works are intriguing, beautifully composed and should present viewers with a great deal to explore and contemplate.”

Nancy Fleischman's, "Untitled,"
digital print.

Craven, a previous adjunct assistant professor at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, produces striking positive figures that are usually drawn against a negative background, using narrative components to illustrate aspects of relationships such as estrangement, reverence and longing. Her work, although contemporary, is strongly influenced by the Northern Renaissance and German Expressionism.

Drawing and printmaking are Craven’s mediums of choice. She recently received a master’s in fine arts from the Rhode Island School of Design, and has exhibited her work throughout the East Coast and in Italy at the Pallazzo Lazzaroni, Cornell University’s program headquarters in Rome.

An installation artist and sculptor, Fleischman experiments with what she calls “environmental immersions,” using lighting, space, sensation and contemplation. Viewers of the seemingly empty spaces she creates are encouraged to physically interact with the work. Perceptions conceived in the moment create a unique experience for each viewer. Fleischman has exhibited her work at the Noyes Cultural Center in Evanston, Ill., and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, among others. She holds a master’s of fine arts from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. Nightingale Gallery is open Monday through Friday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., and 12-5 p.m. on Saturday. For more information contact Cory Peeke, gallery director, at (541) 962-3584.