Carson City OXS Gallery featuring Reno artist Nate Clark’s ‘Leeway’ through March 11

Reno artist Nate Clark’s paintings are featuring at the Nevada Arts Council’s OXS Gallery through March 11, with a free reception and artist talk set for 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19. Clark’s discussion begins at 6:15 p.m.

In “Leeway,” a selection of Clark’s recent paintings, the artist examines order and structure through mark making.

“It starts with a simple idea that I follow and expand into a long physical method. My process has been greatly influenced by working in the garden with my parents, and knitting and crocheting with my grandmother. The repetition of simple shapes and marks develops a pattern that mimics nature by allowing the structure of each work to unfold and respond to itself, like the growth pattern of a forest ecosystem,” Clark said.

The artist said the paintings highlight the subtle contrast between the imperfections of handmade marks and a methodical formula or scientific method.

Originally from Olympia, Wash., Clark moved to Nevada in 2006 to attend the University of Nevada, Reno. After graduating in 2010 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting and photography, Clark bicycled across the country with two friends, stopping in Chicago, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. to see artwork. His four-month, 5,000-mile trip greatly informed his art, he said.

Returning to Nevada in 2011, Clark began working for the Reno Bike Project while actively showing artwork in local galleries. In the fall of 2014, his work was featured in UNR’s downtown gallery, Artspace. In 2015, Clark received an Artist Fellowship Honorable Mention Grant from the Nevada Arts Council and a Grant to Artists from the Sierra Arts Foundation.

OXS Gallery is in the council’s office at 716 N. Carson St., Suite A. Managed by NAC’s Artist Services Program, the gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. For more information, call 775-687-6680, or find NAC on Facebook.