The Maude Kerns Art Center presents “Shared Habitat: Work by Laura Buchan, Sue Markley, and Nancy Watterson Scharf,” opening on July 20 with a public reception from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. The three participating artists share different visions about how humans intersect with, and relate to, the natural world. “Shared Habitat” is on view through August 24.
Sculptor Laura Buchan, from Stevenson, Washington, displays wood-carved pieces that unite forms from plants, animals, and human anatomy. Fascinated by both preservation and the process of decay, Stevenson is concerned with the loss of biodiversity and the growing threat of extinction for many species.
Eugene artist and retired South Eugene High School educator Sue Markley has worked in a variety of media, including cast and fabricated jewelry, drawing, and free-form appliqued textiles. For “Shared Habitat,” she exhibits her detailed colored pencil drawings inspired by forms in nature.
Nancy Watterson Scharf, from Oakland, Oregon, exhibits acrylic canvases that explore the limits of human perception in a world teeming with other life forms. She says of her work: “I am curious about how we compartmentalize and self-limit our perception…. We literally do not see most of the diverse life forms living and working alongside us.”
