The Sullivan Family Gallery at BAYarts will welcome artist Charlotte Lees with Nature Reimaged, a show consisting of multi-discipline work, conceived in Lees’ wooded home environment, that took shape during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using her natural surroundings as a catalyst for her work, the pieces are inspired by the wooded landscape, pond, and wildlife that surround her.

When asked about her creative process, Lees advises that she eagerly anticipates each creative day, gathering ideas from her natural setting and allowing them to incubate. Trained as a printmaker and painter, her work has a two-dimensional quality. Working primarily in wood, Lees carves, assembles, and paints her pieces. Many sculptures contain added materials such as metal, plexiglass, and photo images. These elements help to create a complex and visually-exciting landscape.

In this exhibit, Lees will include several series of work based on nature, wetlands, organ pipes, and the pandemic. For the Organ Pipe Series, she had a friend give her several old organ pipes to repurpose. Lees advises it was a challenge to create images that would enhance these antique structures. After much consideration, she chose to abstract sounds of nature and musical notations. The surfaces are embellished with paint, wood, and metal, thus transforming the pipes into unique works of art.

The Pandemic Series is a series of virtual and imaged travel images conceived during a time of being housebound. Lees advises change and stimulation are the key to her creative process. She enjoys working in series as each series allows her to approach her subject with fresh eyes. Repetition of the same image does not inspire her.

Beauty matters to Charlotte Lees. She seeks to create lasting images that connect man to his surroundings.