AJ Arts & Entertainment

January 7, 2009

Well-balanced exhibit

Former Scranton resident featured at Courthouse Gallery

Mauri Rapp Abington Journal Correspondent

If the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is true, then New York City artist Linda Lee Nicholas’ paintings must be worth encyclopedia volumes. From January 9 until February 27, Nicholas’ artwork will be displayed at the Wyoming County Courthouse Gallery in her show “A Delicate Balance.” Each piece has a meaning, she said, with her smaller works on paper as front-page stories with abstract narratives.

Nicholas said she gains inspiration for her artwork from nature and culture, as well as current events. She began work on many of her current pieces during a time when her mother and father were both ill, which she said led her to consider the impact that the environment and society has on our health.

“The work is about our food, water and air and my obsession with what it is doing to our bodies and environment with a few social issues kicked in,” she said.

She said this is the first time she has participated in an exhibit with so many pieces. This particular show will feature both large oil paintings and small ink works on paper. Her larger oil paintings, Nicholas said, started out with an organized, thought-out composition and gradually become more spontaneous as the piece progresses. Conversely, her smaller pen-and-ink pieces are abstract from the beginning and become more thought out toward the end of the process.

“The large oil paintings are from a more personal place,” Nicholas said, “while the small works on paper deal with similar issues but in a larger global way.” The title “A Delicate Balance” refers to the delicate balance that Nicholas achieved while combining her smaller pieces with her larger pieces.

Part of her process, said Nicholas, is researching various global and social issues. For example, her piece titled “Coral Spores” was influenced by the effect that oil rigs have on the Continental shelf and the sea life beneath coral reefs.

“Observation of instances in everyday life, such as the markings on the sidewalk left from water stains or peeling paint on a wall, can trigger a reaction in my painting,” Nicholas said in her artist’s statement. “At the same time, inspiration from internal sources related to my emotional state of the ups and downs of daily life affect my work.”

Originally from Scranton, Nicholas moved to New York City for college and said she has lived there ever since. She also works as a freelance hair and makeup artist for film and print and has worked in Milan, Paris and Europe. In 2006, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The School of Visual Arts, New York City. Her work has appeared in national publications, such as Family Circle, Weight Watchers Magazine (for which she was a contributing editor) and Gourmet Magazine. She said she still visits Scranton often, where her mother and sister still reside, and has participated in group exhibitions at the AFA Gallery and Hope Horn Gallery. Two pieces of her artwork are also part of the permanent collection at the Everhart Museum. Her artwork can be viewed online at www.lindaleenyc.com.

“A Delicate Balance” will open with a meet-the-artist reception on Friday, Jan. 9,  4 to 6 p.m. Wyoming County Courthouse Art Gallery is open Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. For details, call 836-3200.

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