Maude Kerns Art Center Opens 2025 with Nature-Inspired Exhibits
By Martha Whitaker
EUGENE, Ore. — “Winter can be a depressing month and having the light that comes from the artwork is really special and really makes it feel like you’re immersed in the outdoors again,” said Liberty Rossel, exhibit coordinator of the Maude Kerns Art Center. “The beginning of the year is a good time to remind yourself we're just at the beginning of a cycle, and the flow of nature is constant, and things are ever-changing.”
The Maude Kerns Art Center opened its first exhibits of 2025, “Fow: The Language of Nature” and “Summoning the Light,” on Jan. 10 with a free public reception. The opening reception encouraged community members to eat, drink, view and talk with the five artists and their collections. The exhibits feature five different perspectives on nature through printmaking, mixed media, pastels, metal foils and an infrared camera.
In the Main Gallery, “Fow: The Language of Nature” features artists Vickie Meguire, Julie Cassin and Britt Block. Their collection focuses on how nature, specifically water, has a healing quality. Meguire’s work uses Japanese aesthetics to create patterns and emphasize the seasons and nature. In one of her paintings, she emphasizes the flow of water by using line art over the rocks to give them more dimension and depth.
Cassin uses mixed media to design delicate and unnoticed elements, specifically in her drawings of rivers flowing on top of stones.
Block said, “So for me, what I'm interested in doing is looking at very simple things and wanting to say something about how underneath that, the radiance of the world is peeking through into in a really simple moment.”
In the Salon Gallery, “Summoning the Light” shows local artists Laure Shipley and Linda Devenow. In their work, they emphasized the role of light in their Willamette Valley landscapes. Shipley’s paintings are of rivers, lakes and waterfalls. She would apply a metal foil to the surfaces of her painting to enhance the appearance of bright sunlight.
Devenow uses an infrared camera to capture details that are not visible to the human eye.
“I want to draw the audience in and make them feel something,” said Devenow. “I wanted to feel like it's not quite normal, but it isn't surreal.”
There will be an Artist Talk with Devenow and Shipley on Feb. 1, from 1-2 p.m. at the Maude Kerns Art Center. The “Fow: The Language of Nature” and “Summoning the Light” collections will be on display until Feb. 7.