Cindy Lengele Reveals Herself as an Artist

by BILLYE TURNER for Cascade AE

The innate quality of oil lends itself to layers - stratum of paint successively laid upon another creating the revered complexity of hue, texture and image. Yet, Cindy Lengele expands the strata in her oil paintings to new levels, both actual and metaphoric. The bedrock of Lengele’s work is her life-long art interest, drawing from childhood onward. Her maternal grandmother painted in oils and the artist’s mother encouraged her daughter in drawing Disney images and cartoons.

Her early school years living in Italy and Spain encouraged art exploration and she comments on memories of visiting Pompeii and her subsequent interest not only in art but history and anthropology. An abrupt strata shift occurred in her late twenties when, disenchanted as a motel desk clerk, she decided to enroll at Central Oregon Community College in 2003. Midway through the term in a drawing technique class, the artist declared a visual arts major and future instruction brought inspiration from William Hoppe, associate professor of art, COCC.

Completing her AA degree, she continued at OSU, Cascades Campus, under Sandy Brooke, associate professor of art, OSU, Cascades Campus, who Lengele credit’s for urging her to move beyond her comfort zone and to unflinchingly remove layers of ineffective painting. 2008 marked the beginning of her senior thesis year and the requirement of a cohesive, thematic body of artwork. Lengele worked to define the layers of her thesis vision: the imagery to reveal herself as an artist, a woman, her interest in Buddhism and the plight of animals, her painting style. Reading quotes from Buddha, Confucius and others for guidance, she found thematic words such as beginning, enlightenment, courage and others reflective of her values, her process: beginning – her new career in art; enlightenment – her interest in Buddhism and personal growth; courage – development as an artist and as a woman. These and others would appear in her art, leaving a “bit of herself” in the work.

Drawing from academic exposure to Gerhard Richter’s use of altered photographic images in his work came the inspiration to seek photos. Discovery of photos of endangered species animals - rhinos, pandas, wolves, leopards, gorillas – brought thoughts of using the creatures in her art. The photos reflected her love of animals and heartfelt response to their beauty as well as her sadness at human encroachment limiting their survival through habitat destruction and poaching. Intuitively, she also understood that the previously chosen thematic words described not only herself but symbolized the animals and their plight as well (enlightment for the pandas was an immediate parallel).

Another strata solidified. The artist then began the significant struggle (an experience common to many artists) to put the work on canvas, to create images unique to her, her oeuvre or niche. She sorted images of the animals based upon her emotional response - panda, wolf, tiger, elephant, koala bear, rhino, snow leopard, seal, gorilla and bear made the cut. She decided to begin painting with the elephants and rhinos, symbolic of the continent of Africa, the cradle of civilization and representative of the word beginning, metaphoric as both the first painting of the series and also of the origins of humanity. Layers of paint went on, came off the canvas…she often felt unable to meet the challenge and saw her struggle as representative of the animals.

Color and texture were other important building strata for the images and again referring to Richter’s work, she opted to explore use of the palette knife, admiring the rawness, texture and vibrancy of color it lent to the painting. She combined this with brushwork and worked on cohesion of the image. Painting on several of the images at once, she continued searching. Words from another famed artist, Milton Resnick, encouraged her to put paint on the brush, apply, relax and let things go…gradually she complied. The layers of paint increased, the animals and other images went on canvas, partially hidden by the paint to suggest not only their disappearance but also to obscure the actual image.

The process began to gel. The final layer was the decision on how to include the words. She chose Chinese calligraphy as symbolic of her interest in Buddhism and Asian animals as well as a more subtle way to include the words. Throughout the year she worked on the final painting, All the Best, which includes all the animals from the series. Completing the painting after all the others, she felt the success of her process, her layers, believing the final piece to be her best. Lengele continues her interest in art having applied to graduate school at the University of Oregon in arts administration and management. She creates art, now restricted to drawing given currently available space, and explores the concept of layered work involving bird and angel wings again subtly incorporating words…this time the names of physicians from St. Charles and Bend Memorial Center who work generously with her currently ill mother.

Thus the layers of her art interest continue to build, each upon the former, as she perseveres in her career. Her thesis series words arise again to define her process, courage certainly, and enlightenment perhaps symbolic of her success, but assuredly beginning as taken from the original quote now appropriate to Lengele’s pursuit of her life’s chosen focus for “of a good beginning cometh a good end.” Information:   541-410-5615 Billye Turner, art consultant, curates exhibitions for Sunriver and Pronghorn Resorts and Franklin Crossing in Bend, 541-382-9398.

2010 Advertising Information

VISITour other sites!!