FARMINGTON — The University of Maine Farmington art gallery will hold an opening reception for the “Nelda Warkentin: Paintings” exhibit from 5 to 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 24. The exhibit will be on display Sept. 24–Oct. 11.

Quilter/fiber artist Nelda Warkentin’s lyrical, abstracted nature-based paintings on silk defy easy description. While the artist usually refers to herself as a quilter, her process of rich layering and stitching, expressionist color and brushwork, as well as her intense, almost cubist approach to space and form places the work well within the tradition of modernist painting.

This exhibition of Warkentin’s vibrant paintings overlaps with Tom Jessen’s cooler minimalist drawings, inviting conversation about process, color, form and space.

As a complement to the joint exhibition, the two artists will join in an artist’s talk, “In Conversation: Nelda Warkentin and Tom Jessen,” at the Warkentin opening reception at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 24.