Fish Stories and Other Truths about Nature Exhibition
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Fish Stories and Other Truths About Nature: The Art of Roy Nydorf and Stephen Brooks
Opening Reception Thurs., Nov. 21 from 5 to 7 p.m.
November 21, 2024 - January 3, 2025
This captivating exhibition showcases the remarkable works of two talented artists, Roy Nydorf and Stephen Brooks. Their shared passion for the natural world is evident in their unique and expressive styles. Nydorf’s intricate and detailed works capture the beauty and complexity of the natural world, while Brooks’ bold and colorful works celebrate the joy and wonder of nature.
Oak Ridge resident Roy Nydorf is an award-winning painter, printmaker, draftsman and carver who has exhibited nationally and internationally, and is represented in numerous private & public collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. He earned a Master of Fine Arts with honors from Yale University, received his Bachelor of Arts from State University of New York at Brockport and attended the Art Students League of New York, and State University of New York at Albany. He is professor emeritus at Guilford College, where he taught art from 1978 until he retired in May 2018
Artist Statement – Roy Nydorf
I am interested in depicting incidents of human interaction with nature –events that may have been observed, imagined, dreamed, or feared in my subconscious. I am drawn to create enigmatic, sensual, and spiritual expressions in my work. My sculpture is allegorical in that there is a story embedded within. However, the specific meaning and intention are neither predetermined nor singular, so that interpretation remains ambiguous and multi-faceted.
It is challenging for me to reconcile feelings of sublime wonder, reverence, and beauty with awareness of destruction and disregard for our natural environment. I often imbue my art with whimsy and humor to evoke light-hearted or darker notions about predatory behavior as well.
I live close to nature, and I observe daily animal and bird life, trees in the landscape, weather patterns, and seasonal change. My swimmers and fish imagery are personal reflections of snorkeling numerous times in the Bahamas.
I interpret nature rather than copying it, taking liberties to simplify, exaggerate, and invent forms and details. I also allow the material to dictate and guide my design and execution. My involvement with wood as a central material stems from a childhood fascination with trees and organic forms. I exploit the ready availability of locally sourced favorite types of wood such as walnut, cherry, cedar, boxwood, etc. Particular patterns of wood grain, coloration, and density, along with eccentricities of knots, burls, cavities, and random shapes all contribute to how I envision the creative process.
Artist Statement – Stephen Brooks
I spend my free time walking the ridges and hollows of the North Carolina Highlands. The dark, tangled spaces of rhododendron groves, the broad expanses of light at the mountain tops, and ancient mounds of lichen-covered granite: These observations inform my work.
My paintings begin as a field of warm gray on the surface. Whether painting plein air or In the studio, I add multiple layers of color to describe the light and space. This process happens over a long period of time, allowing the layers to dry. Sanding, layering, glazing, repeating: all add up to the finished painting. Relics of experience, these paintings record my decisions, mistakes, and solutions. They are as much about me as the landscape.
In the animal paintings, I attempt to expand my experience of the land we all inhabit. I approach these the same way I paint landscape. However, I am surprised by the quality of pathos or even humor in some. Personification is not my goal; it emerges without intent. I welcome this the same way I do any element that will make the painting speak.
