A panoramic graphic novel is no small feat, yet Eroyn Franklin’s Detained exhibition at Gallery4Culture showcases not one, but two 50-foot-long scrolls depicting the story of illegal immigrants stuck in local detention facilities. Blue pencil alterations to the pen and ink drawings show the work in progress, while also suggesting a blurriness about today’s citizenship qualifications. The narrative thread throughout the pieces depicts journalists’ findings on illegal immigration. A particularly somber cafeteria scene tells the story of a pregnant inmate whose shackles were never removed—even during her hospital visit.

Recycling has never looked so good. Envelopes are the canvas of choice in Carolyn Cole’s exhibition Recent Paintings opening Thursday, July 1, at Gallery IMA. As a painter, Cole may rely on elementary foundations—primary colors, basic shapes—but she avoids kindergarten comparisons by thoughtfully manipulating textures, one chunky layer of paint after another. Her style has Oregon Public Broadcasting praising her as ‘one of the most successful abstract painters in Oregon’.

RISD grad and MoMA featured sculptor Peter Millett explores the relationship of positive and negative space through the use of geometry in his exhibition Skyscrapers at the Greg Kucera Gallery. His steel work uses simple lines to depict the human form—a long, lean, red painted wedge, or a teetering tower of isosceles triangles. Painted wood work like Hipster has a distinctly worn feeling, with careful attention paid to the cracks in the bark. The clean design of both transforms the gallery into a serene environment.