(Straight from the Studio)
Shiela Laufer | Hedgerow

On view May 12–June 5, 2022 
Opening reception Saturday, May 14 (4–6 p.m.)

Nationale is pleased to introduce the second installment of the group show Straight from the Studio, presented in three parts and featuring figural painter barry johnson, abstract painter Tanner Lind, and printmaker and painter Shiela Laufer. The impetus for this series was born of intimate conversations with each of the artists surrounding their studio life and the raw inspirations that take place there, away from the public eye. These exhibitions will put on display the varied stages of time spent in the studio, calling gallery goers to take part in this communion. As the harbinger of all work, that studio space holds the utmost significance in the artist’s career allowing room for makers to develop methods, experiment with styles and take risks. Straight from the Studio is an invitation to support artists at all stages of their career, focusing on process over form, growth over formal execution. Nationale offers this exhibition as a way of making avenues to sustain artists at all stages of their career. 

In Hedgerow, Portland-based painter Shiela Laufer presents new and previously unveiled works from her practice over the last year and a half. This sharp and bright series is evocative of Laufer’s ongoing exploration with subject and technique. Most experimental is the artist’s shift towards focused and densely populated canvases in her characteristic washed hues and simplified patterns. Toggling the ambiguous demarcation between interiority and exteriority, these pieces feature a new range of visual depth. Repetitive loops resemble chainlinks of bright roots and nasturtiums, and exist as foils to the smaller, open-gate compositions (another recurring theme in Laufer’s work). Her generous application of paint here implies heavier shadows and movements that meld with the replicated motifs. These combinations aim to mimic naturally occurring settings—the subtleties of a tree canopy in a breeze or hedges growing tightly together. Still in their developmental period, these imagined, maze-like environments have the feeling of wandering towards a point just beyond discovery, both for viewer and artist alike. 

Shiela Laufer is a painter and printmaker living in Portland, OR. Her work is influenced by American folk art and the rural landscape of Pennsylvania, where she grew up. She holds a BFA in Printmaking from Pacific Northwest College of Art. Her work has previously been shown at Nationale, Stephanie Chefas Projects, Womxn House, and the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland, OR.

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