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November Issue 2003
Nature Art Gallery at NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, NC, Features Works by Mary Louise O'Sullivan
The Nature Art Gallery, inside the Museum Store at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh, NC, is presenting the exhibition, Nature's Illusions, featuring paintings by Mary Louise O'Sullivan in the style of trompe l'oeil. The exhibit will be on view from Nov. 7 - 30, 2003.
O'Sullivan paints in the style of trompe l'oeil - painting to give the illusion of reality. "I am fascinated by the abstract shapes in the reflections, impossible nuances of colors which are endlessly challenging to capture."
Her favorite subject is water. "I'd say 90% of my compositions have some form of watery problems for me to figure out," said O'Sullivan. "Living on a boat for 12 years made me notice water - notice that something basically ugly, like a piling or shapeless boat, becomes beautiful in its reflection. That is nature's contribution."
Although she paints in an illusionary style, O'Sullivan describes herself as a realist painter. "The things I see are so beautiful and intricate and subtle, I would never presume to invent anything myself. My work is not about me, it's about the world out there."
During her 40+ years as a visual artist, O'Sullivan has exhibited extensively in Florida and New York. She was recently featured in the 2003 Birds in Art exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum in Wassau, WI. Her works are in the collections of the Tampa Museum of Art and the Morris Museum of Art, and in the corporate collections of Alabama Power Co., the American Auto Association and the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Oklahoma.
A native of Asheville, NC, O'Sullivan studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and was greatly influenced by a yearlong internship in Spain.
The Nature Art Gallery, hosts new exhibitions by Southern artists every six weeks. All exhibited art is for sale.
For further information
check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Museum Store
at 919/733-7450, ext. 361 or on the web at (www.naturalsciences.org).
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