“WATERSHED SWAMP, SPRING”: This acrylic on canvas painting by Léni Paquet-Morante is featured in “Within View: Paintings and Drawings,” her solo exhibition on view at David Scott Gallery for BHHS Fox & Roach, Realtors on Nassau Street through April 15. An opening reception is on Sunday, March 19, from 2 to 5 p.m.

The latest installment at David Scott Gallery for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, Realtors is “Within View: Paintings and Drawings,” a solo exhibition of works by Léni Paquet-Morante, an accomplished painter and sculptor with the Johnson Atelier Studio Program in Hamilton. An opening reception is on Sunday, March 19 from 2 to 5 p.m.

“In my previous exhibition, ‘Intersection,’ I attempted to relate the connections between the visual language of four unique abstract artists,” said Scott. “With Léni’s show, I invite the viewer to seek out the intersecting elements within a single artist’s vocabulary.”

“Within View” is an exhibition of 36 works by Paquet-Morante, all interpretations of the landscape and nature through plein air paintings, abstract drawings, and bold monoprints. Walking the gallery, one can explore the conversation between these different media, all tethered together by her use of color, line, and compositionas she seamlessly navigates the tenuous borders between representation and abstraction.

“The title, ‘Within View,’ is a reference to a duality that many artists embrace – subject matter that is represented more literally, as well as the more personal interpretation, expressed from ‘within,’” said Scott. “This harmonious duality is part of Léni’s DNA, so I saw it as essential that the show examine multiple aspects of her voice. One will easily recognize the interaction between the symbiotic elements in her work, without it ever feeling contrived or clever.”

Paquet-Morante said, “I look to the natural landscape to maintain connection to its color and structure, and to discover some of its nuanced complexity. The paintings in this show include work done in New Jersey as well as several other northeastern states, created in all seasons, at warm brooks and vernal pools, at blustery coastlines, and frozen marshlands. The interpretive work that I do in the studio has been built on an extensive library of notes, and it is through the plein air work that these notes are initiated.

“Following a shoulder injury making sculpture in 2021, I began what became an extensive series of small ink drawings made at the edges of brooks and puddles, at small piles of leaves, seeds, and mud, and the surrounding detritus. The larger ink works in 2022 are based solely on recall and with intention to compose an image that speaks as much to the act of drawing, as to an arrangement of landscape components with shallow water as the recurring theme. Through this work, I explore a contemporary interpretation of landscape, which explores the visual complexity within flooded potholes as freely as that within natural, undisturbed environments.”

David Scott Gallery is located at 253 Nassau Street in Princeton, across from Blue Point Grill. Hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors are strongly encouraged to attend the show during weekends, at the opening or closing receptions, or schedule a guided visit with Scott or the artist. Email for more information at davidscottfineart@gmail.com or lenimorante@yahoo.com.

Scott is an independent curator that works with multiple art venues in central New Jersey.