UT Tyler Meadows Gallery Features Works of Linda Lewis, Nisha Drinkard

October 20, 2004

Recent works by artists Linda Lewis and Nisha Drinkard are on exhibit through Friday, Nov. 26, at the Meadows Gallery, located in The University of Texas at Tyler R. Don Cowan Fine and Performing Arts Center.

The Meadows Gallery is open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday or by special appointment (903) 566-7250. A reception and Gallery Talk featuring Ms. Drinkard will be held 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28. The Gallery Talk will begin at 7 p.m.

The Lewis/Drinkard exhibit presents several recent works by two artists whose art, although independent of each other, contains many similar themes and concerns.

Ms. Lewis’ main body of work uses paper taken from an assortment of found sources including dictionaries, history books and personal papers, to make large machine stitched sheets. These sheets are dyed, laminated, stained or otherwise distressed until the work looks, in her words, “fragile and diaphanous” reaching its final form “through a violent and destructive process, reflecting the often difficult and violent process of social negotiation.”

Ms. Lewis has exhibited her work nationally and internationally and has received a Fulbright scholarship to study in Copenhagen, Denmark. In addition, she received the Nathan Cummings Foundation Summer Travel Fellowship, which funded her travel to Croatia, Romania and Turkey. She currently lives and works in Denmark. In 1997, she received a master of fine arts degree from Arizona State University.

Ms. Drinkard also works with found materials such as mica, a mineral that she integrates into larger textile-based sculptures. For her, these works represent an attempt to “physically save my memories by capturing objects and plants in small bags, under mica, or between panels of silk.” She has stated her goals as such: “I have always wanted all stories to be saved for the future, rescued from the aging process.” With the result that: “My work displays a sense of futility in the constant struggle to save what is inevitably forgotten or destroyed.”

Ms. Drinkard’s work has been exhibited in solo and group shows throughout the United States. She is the recipient of numerous grants and awards including the Regional Emerging Artist Grant from Arts and Science Council, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., and the Heritage Art Collection Purchase Award, Tempe, Ariz. In 1998 she received a master of fine arts degree from Arizona State University in Tempe.

The gallery is closed on academic holidays. For more information please contact Matthew Rich, director, at 903-566-7483.