Last Chance Before 'Abandonment' Leaves CCBC Dundalk

Clara Nilles is the midst of a career change.

After 17 years in finance, she's become a student again, taking art classes at the Community College of Baltimore County and pursuing a graphic design degree. As part of her new academic path, she recently took a curating class, which led to her first curated show –  the well-received photography exhibition, "Abandonment" – which closes this evening at CCBC Dundalk.

Nilles, 43, came up with the show's idea, developed a theme and purpose, and found the artists, Lynnn Cazabon, Frank Day, Penny Harris, Ben Marcin, Hal Rummel and Chris Saah, whose work make up the exhibition.

It may be a coincidence, but the show's name squares nicely with Nilles' own story, the abandonment of her former career and lifestyle.

"Finance was something I didn't like, it wasn't me, it didn't fit me, it was a paycheck," she said. "A few years ago I decided I wanted to follow my true passion – art."

Nilles own work tends toward drawing and painting, mostly in acrylics or pastels, focusing on wildlife and nature, with bold colors, textures and shapes, projecting an imaginative and whimsical quality.

However, she enjoyed the curating class, and her proposal was selected by CCBC faculty to be developed into a show. The whole process of organizing the exhibition took about 6-8 months.

The "Abandonment" theme, Nilles said, came from her own appreciation of hidden beauty, "things that stand out in a solitary state," as she put it.

"Most people find the theme kind of depressing, but I think it's interesting when you actually find something beautiful in something that's been left behind," Nilles said. "Basically, I wanted people to realize there is a lot of beauty in things that are abandoned and in decay."

Nilles added there's another motif behind the stark, lonely images: the idea of being left alone.

"It's also kind of refreshing for me to be alone, I spend a lot of time alone, working as an artist," Nilles said. "I like the solitary time by myself. The show is something with a lot of meaning to me."

"Abandonment," Nilles wrote in the show's statement, "is a journey into emotions of when one has become detached from society and relationships. It is a contemplation of the many facets of being alone, while searching for the meaning of self and seclusion. In the end, abandonment is what we are when everything else is gone."

Along with selecting artists, all are from the Maryland-District of Columbia area, and their works, Nilles wrote a curator's statement, organized a catalogue of the show, designed a flier for the show, and sent out emails and a press release announcing the exhibition, which opened Nov. 6.

"This is really night and day from my previous life," Nilles said. "There is no turning back."