Sallyportal: Madly Blogging Reed

Lena's Paintings on Display

By Laurie Lindquist on March 25, 2013 04:00 PM
Lena Lencek

Professor, author, translator, traveler, collector, mentor, and—yes, artist. Welcome to the protean career of Lena Lenček, pictured here at home with a series of watercolors she painted on a sabbatical visit to Tuscany. Photo by Leah Nash

Recent paintings by Professor Lena Lenček [Russian 1977–] appear in Geochromes: The Spirit of Place in Line and Color, showing through June 2013 in the Vollum College Center Gallery. Stephanie Snyder ’91, director of the Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Art Gallery, is curator.

The exhibition features works that Professor Lenček created during 2011–13 in some of the world’s most magical environments, including Tuscany, Puglia, the U.S. Southwest, Baja California, and the Oregon coast. Lenček states: “I chose a cloistered profession, but I’ve lived my life on the move, anxious to see as much as my eyes will hold, and in this gluttonous curiosity, pen and paper have been my accomplices. I sketch on the road, the air, and the sea because only when I look with my pen and brush do I catch and fix the fleeting conjunction between the timeless geography of land and my moment and the memories to come.”

The paintings, done in ink, pastel, and watercolor, “vibrate with a brilliant synesthetic resonance,” says Snyder. Lenček and her life in words and art was the subject of a recent profile in Reed magazine, “The Uncharted Geography of Lena.” 

The exhibition is open for viewing noon–5 p.m., on the following Sundays: April 28; May 12, 19, & 29; June 2 & 9, in Vollum lounge.

Join us for an artist reception 4–8 p.m., with remarks at 6:30 p.m., on Thursday, April 25, in Vollum lounge.

Tags: Russian, professors, art