Exhibition Dates: January 6–16, 2025
Closing Reception: January 16, 6:00 p.m.
Location: Royal Nebeker Gallery, 1799 Lexington Avenue, Clatsop Community College, Astoria, OR
The Pop-Up Show Invitational: The Art of Resolutions invites viewers to embark on a journey of reflection and discovery through artworks inspired by goals, aspirations, and personal pledges for the new year. Featuring the works of three dynamic artists, this exhibition fosters a hopeful, motivating space that encourages viewers to contemplate their own transformations. Visitors are also invited to contribute to a “Graffiti Wall,” sharing their resolutions alongside the artworks.
This show features three women artists, Laura Ross-Paul, Yasmina Nysten, and Molly Schulps. Each artist brings a distinctive voice to the exploration of identity, relationships, and personal evolution, inspiring viewers to navigate the complex interplay between introspection and external expression, while grounding the exhibition in the essence of resolution.
Laura Ross-Paul brings a career spanning over four decades to the show, with works that are “universal and spiritual, yet imbued with a personal perspective.” Known for her evocative figurative paintings, Ross-Paul continues to be a trailblazer for women’s rights advocacy. Her work in this show reflects her dedication to creating art that speaks to resilience and empowerment, providing “mystical and psychologically compelling environments” for the viewer to explore.
Yasmina Nysten, a Finnish-Lebanese artist, contributes paintings that delve into “the intersection of personal identity, perception, and the act of concealment.” Through intimate scenes layered with subtle power dynamics, Nysten captures moments of quiet tension and transition. Her work invites viewers to reflect on how identity shifts in the liminal space between private experience and public projection, offering a profound meditation on resolution as a process of reconciliation.
Molly Schulps brings her expertise in ceramics to the exhibition, exploring family dynamics and human relationships through animal forms and folkloric references. Her works highlight parallels between human and animal behavior, emphasizing themes of connection, isolation, and triumph. Schulps describes her process as one that embraces the paradoxical nature of her materials: “Porcelain and terra cotta can be finicky and challenging, just like us, but when coaxed along, they reveal their purity and earthiness.”
The Pop-Up Show Invitational: The Art of Resolutions offers an inspiring way to begin the year, combining three distinct creative visions into a communal space for self-reflection. Don’t miss the chance to join the conversation and leave your own mark on the Graffiti Wall.
About the Artists:
Laura Ross-Paul is an artist, teacher and arts cheerleader based in Portland and Manzanita. She has been painting professionally for over four decades and has been represented by nine different galleries on the West Coast from Seattle to Laguna Beach. She has exhibited her work throughout the Pacific Northwest and California and New York in such venues as the Portland Art Museum, the Seattle Art Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum, the Arnot Museum (NY), the Palm Springs Art Museum, the Art Gym and Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, and is serving as the 2025 juror for the Au Naturel, which will be open for viewing at the Royal Nebeker Gallery from January 23 through March 13.
Yasmina Nysten is currently based in Astoria, earned a BFA in Visual Arts from ALBA (Beirut, 2009) and an MFA in Digital Arts from Pratt Institute (New York, 2012). Her work has been exhibited internationally in exhibition such as: Artful Crimes, solo exhibition, Mark Hachem Gallery, Beirut, Lebanon, The Evening, Christies Auction, Takreem Foundation, Hotel de Paris Monte-Carlo, France, Women in War Palestine the INTISAR FOUNDATION, CAP, Kuwait, and Facing You, Imogen Gallery, Astoria, Oregon.
Molly Schulps resides in Astoria and holds an MFA with distinction from California State University, Northridge. Molly is primarily a ceramicist, but also works with other materials such as paint, wood, wax, wire, and other media. Schulps was a part-time lecturer at various colleges and universities throughout Southern California, until 2004, when she began her full time position at Cypress College heading the ceramics program and served as the Art Department Chair from 2015-2021. Schulps exhibits her work nationally and is in several permanent collections.
The CCC Royal Nebeker Gallery is dedicated to enriching the cultural life of the campus, the local community, and the North Coast region. Please join us in sustaining and promoting contemporary art and visual culture through professional exhibitions and programming.
The CCC Royal Nebeker Gallery, located at 1799 Lexington Avenue in Astoria, is ADA accessible. The gallery hours are from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, Saturdays from 11 – 4 p.m., and on Sundays and holidays by appointment only. For more information, please contact Kristin Shauck by phone (503-338-2472) or e-mail kshauck@clatsopcc.edu.
