Nurtured by Nature

Nancy Maurice Rogers
& Lee Rogers

Opening Reception
Saturday, Jan. 18, 1-3pm

Roeliff Jansen Community Library
9091 Route 22
Hillsdale, NY 12529

The Roeliff Jansen Community Library is excited to present Nurtured by Nature, an art exhibit featuring the work of Nancy Maurice Rogers and Lee Rogers. The exhibit will be on display from January 12 through February 28, 2025, with an artists reception on Saturday, January 18, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM at the Library.

Lee Rogers’s work features a unique fusion of photography and photograms, created in the darkroom using 35mm black-and-white film and natural objects collected during his journeys. His prints blend landscape imagery from the Northeast and Southwest United States with found objects, hand colored with meticulous detail to evoke a deep connection to nature.

Nancy Maurice Rogers draws on a lifelong relationship with art and nature, crafting handmade paper pieces and monoprints that embody the spontaneity and malleability of her chosen media. Her abstract works invite viewers to find their own meanings while reflecting on the awe and concerns inspired by the natural world’s transformations.

Don’t miss this chance to meet the artists, view their stunning works, and be inspired by the ways nature nurtures creativity. Light refreshments will be served.

Artist’s Statements:

Nancy Maurice Rogers: “Nature has nurtured my aesthetic sensibilities from childhood to the present day. The pieces in this exhibit may be characterized as abstract, holding the invisibility of meaning, allowing me to have direct experience with the media while leaving the viewer to bring their own interpretations to each piece. Witnessing seasons, nature’s detritus and degradations, patterns, light and shadow, and the effects that nature brings forth to all inhabitants of this planet feels awe-inspiring accompanied by many heightened concerns. These handmade paper pieces and monoprints attempt to invoke those reflections.

The act of making paper pulp itself is comparable to cooking (I never follow recipes). Creating pieces with this medium offers much malleability and has its roots in antiquity. It offers many surprises as to its versatility and its strengths. I love that working with handmade paper has no memory and liken it to clay.

Monoprints also share a focus on working with paper and starting from nothing to creating something that is born. Patterns, colors and symbols inform my work through experimentation. The spontaneity of this medium is also quite forgiving. Each print is a single edition and cannot be replicated. 

I have made art and studied art since childhood. I have worked professionally as a visual arts administrator for decades and thus have encouraged and supported countless children, teens, and adults to pursue their own mission of making art in any and all media. Today, I appreciate taking the artwork off of the walls at home and sharing them with those who view this exhibit.”

Lee Rogers: “My work primarily consists of prints that are a combination of photographs and photograms, that I create in the darkroom. Initial image capture is done using 35mm black and white film. My primary subjects are natural landscapes in the Northeastern and Southwestern United States.

I often collect natural found objects as I am photographing, and later use them in the darkroom.  A photogram is a photographic print made in the darkroom, in which objects are placed on light-sensitive paper, and then exposed to light. The prints that are created by combining the two traditional methods of black and white printing become a unique rendering of the landscape, in which the objects that are found within the terrain blend with the landscape. I often hand-color the prints with colored pencil. The paper that I use is a fiber-based matte surface paper which easily lends itself to hand coloring.” 

Roeliff Jansen Community Library, which is chartered to serve Ancram, Copake, and Hillsdale, is located at 9091 Route 22, approximately one mile south of the traffic light at the intersection of Routes 22 and 23. For information on hours and events, call 518-325-4101 or visit us on our website at http://www.roejanlibrary.org, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/roejanlibrary, or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/roejanlibrary/.