Nancy Rankin’s art exhibit on display in Campus Center through Aug. 31
An art exhibit “Photo Balms” featuring the work of Professor Emeritus Nancy Rankin will be on display through Aug. 31 at the University of New England Campus Center on the Biddeford Campus. A reception will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Aug. 6 in the lobby of the Campus Center.
The exhibit showcases fabric designs Rankin created by photographing natural subjects — including orchids, beets, beaver dams and mold — then digitally manipulating and reimagining the images into original patterns.
"There may be a hint of the familiar, and yet the inherent elements in each have been reimagined to create a unique design," Rankin said.
The project began during the COVID-19 pandemic when a student introduced Rankin to the Instagram Layout app. She started experimenting with photos she already had — flowers, vegetables, shadows, ripples in sand — before becoming more intentional about photographing details of everyday subjects, such as the lines inside a beet, squash or tomato, or interesting details of flowers and trees.
"It was a fun process with mixed outcomes," Rankin said. "Sometimes I found designs that were beautiful, and other times I abandoned the primary photo because I didn't like the results. It was very much an experimental process, and one I continue to enjoy."
To create each design, Rankin crops a photo, uploads it to the Layout app, and cuts it into halves, thirds or quarters before flipping it horizontally or vertically — often repeating the process through three or four iterations until she finds a result she likes.
Once she settled on designs, Rankin turned to Spoonflower, a North Carolina company that prints digital images onto fabric, to bring the patterns to life.
"It was so exciting to place my first order to see how well the colors transferred and how true they were to the original image," Rankin said. "And it feels like a full-circle moment for me, because I have loved fabric since I was a kid — everything about it: colors, patterns, textures, weave and drape."
Rankin said sewing was an important part of her life for many years, and she has professionally facilitated several community quilt projects and workshops that use the qualities of fabric as metaphors for life.
The exhibit also marks a full-circle moment for Rankin's connection to UNE. She moved to Maine to take a job as director of counseling services at the university, then taught in the psychology program for more than 20 years before retiring in 2019. Among her favorite courses was introduction to art therapy.
"That gave me the opportunity to share with students the power of the arts in the healing process while also fostering their own creative expression," Rankin said.
The UNE Campus Center is located at 11 Hills Beach Road in Biddeford. The summer hours are 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the weekends.
