When I spoke to Whitney E. Nye in December, she’d spent the previous 18 months working in a sublet studio in New York City’s Garment District. Without an immediate deadline, she explored new materials and mediums, and, in the unfettered time, she completed three series of work for her upcoming solo show at Russo Lee Gallery. But it hadn’t been decided which series or pieces would make the cut. I saw the work in Nye’s Northwest Portland studio in early February. Which of the three series would be included in the show was still up in the air. The large mixed media pieces of her “wallcoverings” series were hung around the airy space. Formal yet loose, they command attention without being domineering. A piece from her “road trip” series, collages that capture passenger-side views on empty two-lane highways, hung in a corner. It was striking for how sharply it brought into focus the beauty and wonder of a small, seemingly inconsequential moment. The third series, created by dripping and daubing paint on large unstretched canvases, was in evidence as a pile draped over a table. A bit of sparkle paint glinted playfully in the winter light. (There’s quite a bit of glitter paint in both these and the “wallcoverings. ” It’s subtle, but it’s there, and it’s fun. ) I’m delighted to say that the freshness of that informal show is repeated in “Ramble,” now up at the Russo Lee Gallery. The front gallery is given over to the “wallcoverings. ” These hang cheerily and stiffly on the walls. During the pandemic, Nye painted outdoors in Eastern Oregon, using fabric paint on unfinished canvas. Ripped and cut, these softly blurred paintings form the raw material of the hangings. The heft of the finished pieces comes from layering these panels with strips and shapes derived from other paintings, deconstructed for the purpose, then sewing them together. | | | | | Nye uses a workaday sewing machine that shouldn’t properly be up to the industrial task of going through so many layers of paint and canvas. The resulting stitching is utilitarian rather than pretty or decorative: These aren’t quilts. Though it’s tempting to make associations with textiles. A leitmotif of enlarged checks runs through the series, like blown up swatches of gingham. In one piece, “It Takes Balls to Be a Woman,” a vintage metal zipper forms a long diagonal along the edge of a painted canvas strip. The “road trip” pieces are clustered in a smaller space just beyond the front gallery. The ravishing “The Road Goes on Forever” is hung behind the front desk, and gallery staff will have to forgive visitors who want to get a little closer to immerse themselves in the mesmerizing sworls of cut paper that make up a softly clouded sky at sunrise — or maybe it’s a sunset — that lifts up over an inky black road that stretches into a low horizon. Other pieces in the series reflect the road in front or the road behind. Sometimes the sideview mirror is captured in the frame or is the framing device itself. These pieces are luscious, evoking a late summer day and the sprawling West. There was always going to be a cut. Three bodies of work weren’t going to fit easily in the gallery’s space, especially with the “wallcoverings” and the third series being so exuberantly large. But works from the third series have been slipped in, informally. Now stretched, a couple of the canvases are sprightly and playful in the alcove just behind the front desk. When we spoke in December, Nye described her process as working through materials and ideas, following what she’s drawn to at the time. It’s a process that lends itself to peripatetic exploration. In this case, the result is a series of three different but kindred bodies of work. While the three bodies of work are different, they share a kinetic energy. Just like seeing the world through Nye’s eyes in the “road trip” series, it’s a delight to see her chase down and masterfully work through her latest creative inquiry. *** : “Ramble,” a solo show of new work by Oregon artist Whitney E. Nye. Through April 1. : Russo Lee Gallery, 805 N. W. 21st Ave. : 11 a. m. -5:30 p. m. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a. m. -5 p. m. Saturday. or 503-226-2754. .