Portland artist Whitney Nye explores composition through intricate patterns of repetition. She observes that with her latest work, “there is a continuation of cutting and regrouping . Sewing patterns are a new element woven into my most recent pieces.  The concepts that arose while creating these pieces centered around the loss of certain domestic skills:  cooking, canning, growing food, gardening, baking and sewing.  The patterns and the dated domestic lifestyle they represent became a muse and precipitated a question about what else has been lost as these features of domesticity fade from mainstream modern life.” The paintings that result from Nye’s hands-on, labor intensive, collage and layering process are mesmerizing for their ability to pull viewers into the intricacy of their patterns, and to reflect on the origins of their materials.

A University of Oregon graduate, Whitney Nye was also an artist in residence at the Oregon College of Art and Craft and at Bullseye Glass Company in Portland, Oregon.  She has exhibited her work for over 15 years, and is represented by galleries in Tennessee, Wyoming, and Utah, as well as at Laura Russo Gallery in Oregon.  Her work is included in a variety of private and public collections, including Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN.

More examples by Whitney Nye

Sean Cain


Sean Cain
Untitled (seated woman, red drape, landscape) 2009
oil on linen on wood panel
23.5" x 33.25"

Sean Cain paints the classical figure with a modern surrealist approach.  His figures, rendered with fine technical skill and draftsmanship, strike unusual poses that are placed within unexpected settings.  Captured in the midst of tightly cropped or panoramic landscapes, the figures are engaged in their own dreamlike dramas.  This surreal juxtaposition emphasizes their isolation and self-awareness.  The beauty of Sean Cain's figures, besides being superbly drawn, lies in their heroic and enigmatic presence.

A graduate of the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 1994, Sean Cain also studied at the Art Institute of Chicago.  Cain has been in several exhibitions at the Laura Russo Gallery.  His work has also been included in group exhibitions at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, The Art Gym at Marylhurst University, and the Portland Art Museum, in Oregon.

More examples by Sean Cain


Upcoming 2009 Exhibitions:

September 3 - 26
Sherrie Wolf – New Paintings
JD Perkin – Recent Sculpture

October 1- 31
Tom Cramer - New Work
PNCA Alumni Group Show:
Michael Brophy, Roll Hardy, René Rickabaugh, Jackie Johnson,
Mary Josephson, Jay Backstrand, Lucinda Parker, Chris Gander, Sherrie Wolf, and Jack Portland, among others