UPCOMING EXHIBIT
COMMON THREAD
A mixed media art show featuring works by
Dee Dee Oliver
and
Lori Oxendine
OPENING EVENT
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 5:00-7:30pm
ARISTS TALKS: 5:30PM
SHOW RUNS SEPTEMBER 10-26, 2026
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
LORI OXENDINE
ARTIST STATEMENT
In my work I explore the intersection of history, humanity and environment using natural materials and historical techniques to create contemporary works that ask what remains when cultures, landscapes and historical techniques are forgotten.
Paper is my primary medium because it is itself a record of origins. Made from natural materials, paper carries the characteristics of its source. Each sheet carries a unique texture, grain, color, and malleability. I treat that history as part of the artwork rather than something to conceal.
My process combines paper with techniques drawn from quilting, bookbinding, leather-working and the fifteenth-century practice of slashing. I adapt these methods by hand and machine, allowing the material to determine much of the final form. The techniques I use become the artistic language through which I call attention to the processes nature has always used: accumulation, transformation, adaptation and preservation.
In a culture increasingly devoted to the new, I am interested in what remains and what we might lose by failing to remember. The works in this exhibition consider geographical and cultural ecosystems, where nature and human culture continually shape one another. Some evoke geological strata or living ecosystems; others draw from urban environments and cultural histories.
BIOGRAPHY
Lori J. Oxendine is an artist and designer whose multidisciplinary practice explores the intersection of history, humanity, culture and environment.
She grew up surrounded by art, music, history and an abiding curiosity about how the world works. Her mother, a music teacher, taught her to recognize rhythm, repetition, color and lyricism; her father, a science, math and history teacher and painter, instilled a love of visual storytelling, history and what he described as nature’s role as the ultimate artist. Frequent visits to the Smithsonian solidified her fascination with art, geology, ecosystems and the stories embedded in the layers of the natural world.
A graduate of the Corcoran College of Art and Design at the George Washington University, Oxendine has more than four decades of experience as a visual artist and designer.
Her fine-art practice centers on paper and historical techniques including slashing, quilting, bookbinding and leather-working. Her richly layered works are inspired by geological formations, ecosystems, cultural traditions, urban environments and forgotten histories.
DEE DEE OLIVER
ARTIST STATEMENT
My artistic practice began as a way to help me navigate anxiety. Over time, it has become much more than that—it has become a place where I can slow down, experiment, and reconnect with myself. I genuinely enjoy the creative process: the uncertainty, the discovery, and the freedom that comes from not always knowing where a piece will lead.
My love of working with paper began during my studies in collage at Barton College under Paula Patterson where I first began experimenting with deconstructing paper pieces. Taking them apart and reimagining the pieces satisfies the need to create intuitively. Allowing the materials to guide the way, the strategic use of color, placement, texture, and form rather than following a predetermined plan.
Sewing has also been an important part of my creative language. I learned to sew from my grandmother. The act of stitching connects me to family, while giving my work another way to be assembled, layered, and transformed. I think of these processes as giving materials new life—an idea that has become central to my practice. I continue to build upon techniques I learned from Paula Patterson, incorporating her influence into my own evolving process.
Color is another constant in my work. I share a love of a similar bold, vibrant color palette with my uncle, Vollis Simpson, whose creativity and way of seeing the world have been a major influence. His work reminds me that art can be joyful, imaginative, unexpected, and deeply connected to place and personal experience.
In many ways, my work is about transformation—taking something apart in order to create something new. I look to the past not as something to remain in, but as a way forward. Combining materials, techniques, memories, and influences I have inherited become starting points for something that is uniquely my own.
BIOGRAPHY
Since 2019, Oliver has served as the Visual Arts coordinator for Wilson Arts. Prior to joining Wilson Arts, she worked as a freelance photographer and studied ceramics and collage at Barton College. Her work is held in private collections throughout the United States and internationally and is featured in a public art installation in downtown Greenville, North Carolina.