Gallery Cushing Terrell presents “Fragments & Forms, Grand Canyon & Joshua Tree,” a solo exhibition of mixed-media, collage works by artist Lorelle Rau.

Lorelle’s harmonious compositions weave together snippets of found paper and captured imagery to create graceful linear vistas and abstract scenes, where color, texture, and shape are coordinated with balanced intention. Guided by an intuitive process, she brings together these elements through the addition and extraction of forms, expertly integrating line and detail within the landscape.

This approach is demonstrated in the Grand Canyon series, where Lorelle explores the colors, layers, and textures of the Colorado River corridor, reflecting on the impacts of drought, climate change, and increased water use on this vital natural resource. Through a layering of inkjet photographs, latex-painted Bristol paper, a map from her 2022 rafting journey, handmade Tamarisk paper foraged from the southwest, and cotton thread, Lorelle creates a complex narrative. Several of these paper constructions are hand-stitched, symbolizing unity, repair, restoration, and reconnection.

The themes of unity and connection also extend into her Joshua Tree series, a homage to the park’s 1.7-billion-year-old granite rock formations and the iconic, twisted Joshua Trees that reach toward the sky. Here, Lorelle focuses on simplicity in color and form, exploring shape, space, and scale through mixed media techniques, photography, painting, and stitching. The work reflects her ongoing fascination with the natural world and her deep commitment to expressing its beauty and fragility.