Mirrors of Experience

 

The Nightingale Gallery of Eastern Oregon University is pleased to present Mirrors of Experience, a solo exhibition of local artist and EOU alumna Mariah Boyle.

The exhibition opens Friday, April 2^nd with a reception from 6-8pm in the gallery located in Loso Hall.  The show will run through Friday, April 23rd. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 11am to 4pm.

Mirrors of Experience will present a selection of Boyle’s recent large scale charcoal drawings. Boyle’s dynamic works, often feature self-portraits, and are derived from a sense of identity as linked to the loss of important women in her life.  The artist’s exploration of feelings of grief and healing, life and death; lead her to create staged, dreamlike visual narratives. Boyle’s images suggest a loss of immediate control and a sense of a time and place that has been fractured.  They often suggest the experience a dream or fleeting fragment of distant memory.

“Mariah Boyle’s direct approach to drawing combined with her sophisticated use of art historical and literary symbolism makes for a powerful exhibition of drawings,” said Cory Peeke, Nightingale Gallery Director.  “Her works while seemingly romantic representations also present viewers with scenarios both vaguely familiar and disquieting.  The Nightingale is excited to be able to present such a large grouping of these compelling images to the community.”

Mariah Boyle grew up in Vale, Oregon. She attended Eastern Oregon University graduating with her B.A. degree with a major in Art in 2009. She currently lives in La Grande where she is the EOU Art Program’s alumni artist in residence. Boyle was recently accepted into the graduate Art program at Washington State University. She will be moving to Pullman, WA this fall in order to pursue her M.F.A.

Boyle’s work has been exhibited numerous times within the region and also at the Galeria Jesus Gallardo, La Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico as part of the Autoretratos exhibition. Her images have also been recognized with numerous awards including recent inclusion in “Creative Quarterly” Issue #18, two Union County Cultural Enrichment Grants, one in 2009 and 2010, and honorable mentions at both the EOU All-Campus Juried Student Exhibit and the Pendleton Art Center Regional Exhibition both in 2009.

In conjunction with the exhibit Boyle will present a public gallery talk on Wednesday, April 14th at 6pm in the gallery.  The presentation is free and open to the public.

For further information about the exhibition call the gallery, 541-962-3667 or on the web at www.eou.edu/art/.  To request images of artwork for publication or to schedule an interview with the artist please contact Gallery Director Cory Peeke at cpeeke@eou.edu.