“Nancy Bruce, works with varying types of reclaimed paper to create what appear to be paintings. From afar, her pieces have a flat, muted look, but close inspection reveals a rich textural surface. In fact, Bruce’s abstract renderings of cityscapes are among the most winning pieces in the exhibition. Her “9th and Selene,” rendered in grays, ivories, and sand tints, is entirely symmetrical and seemingly austere, composed of small rectangular blocks (windows? doors?) in a larger field. But the surface of the piece has a visible weave with minute frayed edges, sprinkled throughout with a gold sparkle. Tiny details like the orientation of the paper’s stitching and the very slightly recessed surface of the “windows” jump into focus up close, just as the slight differences within a seemingly uniform block of row-houses are invisible from afar but become apparent under examination.”
