LA GRANDE — The Nightingale Gallery of Eastern Oregon University opens the biennial faculty exhibition on Monday, Nov. 14, at 11 a.m.

A reception and gallery talk by the artists will be held Friday, Nov. 18, 5-7 p.m. The show will be on display until Dec. 15.

The exhibition provides a glimpse into the recent studio practices of EOU’s Art Department faculty. On view will be a collection of works by professors Susan Murrell, Cory Peeke, Nathan Prouty and visiting assistant professor Josh Raftery.

Murrell will be presenting aspects of her larger installation “if water had its way.”

“This installation is a meditation on the dynamic relationship between water in all its states, land and culture. Water functions as a sculptor of our planet and the primary component of our bodies, making it a potent symbol in rites of birth, life, and death,” Murrell said. “This painting-centric installation explores inertia and equilibrium as our concept of and role in the landscape continues to shift amid the climate crisis.”

Peeke will exhibit a selection of his newest mixed-media collages that employ the use of a variety of adhesive tapes, charcoal and found images to explore aspects of memory and anxiety.

“My work is a study in anxiety and control, impermanence and obscurity,” Peeke said. “They are manifestations of my relationship to the imprecision of memory. The memories that we hold on to and the memories that hold on to us.”

Prouty’s research revolves around the history and baggage of craft and popular culture, while exploring ideas about the American Dream and its associated victory culture, angst, mementos and memories.

“My sculptures are packaged in slick, colorful, concentrated bundles which nod to the knick-knack and the souvenir,” Prouty said. “I attempt to both mask and reveal my unease with the world and culture around me from behind a disarming disguise of foolishness.”

Raftery’s photographic work utilizes antiquated photographic processes to “examine the relationships between loss and memory, and religion and science.”

“This coming together of our otherwise solo studio practices is always an interesting experiment,” said Peeke, Professor of Art and Director of the Nightingale Gallery. “It allows both ourselves and our audiences to make connections between the work, the processes with which we engage and concepts we explore.”

For more information, follow the Nightingale Gallery on Facebook and Instagram @nightingale_gallery.

To request images of artwork for publication or to schedule an interview with the artists please contact Gallery Director Cory Peeke at cpeeke@eou.edu.