Lora Shelley Exhibit

Artist, and Library employee, Lora Shelley is currently exhibiting a mixed media show at the Library that includes painting, lithographs, jewelry and sculpture. The show focuses mainly on her paintings, reflecting her chosen way to communicate, since she was a child. "Things that I find impossible to convey with words are expressed through my paintings." Described as having "an uneasy psychological presence," Lora's figures and environments are primarily from her head. Through the use of texture color and pattern, Lora sculpts the surface of her paintings as if she were working with clay instead of color on a two dimensional surface. This approach allows Lora the freedom to complicate and simplify an image repeatedly until the desired balance is achieved.

Lora likes to think of painting as filling the space with something meaningful. This might be an expression or gesture –something that alludes to a larger story. A good example of this would be Lora's "Diner Series" (started in 1994 and continued until present day). This series captures moments in the lives of fictional diner waitresses (composite characters). Like stills from a movie, the paintings allow the viewer to examine the precise moment, while suggesting the events that led up to this point.

Lora's paintings reflect her love of art history. Her influences are evident -- Gauguin, Kollwitz, Hundertwasser, Klimt, Munch and Nolde to name a few. "I feel art is best served when it reaches into someone's everyday life and creates a connection that wasn't there before. Art has done that for me."

Lora, a Hudson Valley resident, graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 1994. While attending RISD, she was selected and participated in their European Honors Program; a year of study and travel based in Rome (Art History, Studio and Italian language).

Selected awards and honors include the John Orth memorial Award for Excellence from RISD in 1994, the Artist Workspace Fellowship/Residency at the historic Woodstock School of Art in 1998. In 2001, the Woodstock Artist Association and Museum awarded Lora with the Annual Print Award. She was also selected by the WSA to make their annual print for 2008. Lora's greatest honor to date is having her work selected to be part of the US Art-in-Embassies Program (twice in 2001-3 and 2004-7) Lilongwe Malawi and Kinshasa Africa. Selected work was later purchased by an American Ambassador.
Through the years Lora has studied many diverse media aside from traditional painting, including encaustics, lithography, pottery, large format woodcut, monotypes, etc. Each study informs and always leads her back to her true love of painting.

Lora's paintings have been in solo and group exhibitions across the country and abroad. Her work is part of private collections as far as Australia, Germany, France, Italy and Africa. Lora's collectors include a wide variety of people including Carly Simon. Lora's paintings have graced the covers and pages of many national and regional magazines, including Art Business News, Art in America, The Valley Table, Downtown NYC, The Country and Abroad and Hudson Valley Home.

Lora has been a member of organizations such as the Copley society of Art in Boston, the National Association of Women Artists, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts among others. The exhibit will be on view through Spring 2012.

Visit Lora's website: lorashelley.com

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