Nancy Lorenz: Polished Ground Visual Arts , Willamette Week, Richard Speer

What do Cindy Crawford, Elton John and Tom Ford have in common? They all own artworks by Nancy Lorenz, the New York artist showing at PDX Contemporary. These etudes of precious metals, mother of pearl and shiny lacquers dazzle with a lapidary elegance. One of the show’s seminal pieces, Palladium Relief, almost miraculously combines seemingly incompatible elements: metal and burlap, solid and liquid, quotidian materials with abstract expressionist sophistication. Lorenz’s gleaming, glittery confections twist the brain while they delight the eye.

Through May 2.