Emma Gonzalez
Staff Writer
The Harris Gallery hosted an opening reception for the new “Parallax” exhibit of works by the University’s own art and art history faculty on Sept. 12.
The two-person show featured three-dimensional sculptures by Keith Lord, professor of art, and watercolor paintings and drawings by Jon Leaver, professor of art history.
Images ranging from scenic landscapes to bird drawings adorn the walls of the exhibit.
Floating wood sculptures of bright colors are constructed in an intricate design along the room.
Leaver’s art represents an ongoing relationship with the nature of images that were collected from the media and his surroundings.
Leaver modified the images and demonstrated a more personal representation of why the images are compelling.
“Birds were the first things that I drew as a kid,” Leaver said. “I was kind of a weird kid with interests that nobody else had, and one of the ways to explore it was to find … books and draw the birds that I found there. I was just as fascinated with the pictures of the birds as I was with the birds themselves.”
Lord’s work features the bright vibrant colors of red and green. Prior to the “Parallax” exhibit, Lord said he had never used such color.
“I offer people different presentations,” Lord said. “Whether it’s complex and complicated or more elegant and smooth, bright red versus a bright green or the fuzzy little string on (one piece), the way that it covers over the ground. I want people to start exploring their relationship to physical things in the world, their relationship to color, their relationship to size and complexity and scale, and also the height that it’s at.”
For Leaver, this exhibit marks the first public showing of his art.
“(Previously) it’s been for myself,” Leaver said. “Ever since I was a child and made work very much for my own consumption.”
The two worked together in the planning and execution of this show.
It was a trial-and-error process of what feels right, and knowing when the work is complete, they said.
“There’s something challenging about knowing when a work is finished,” Lord said. “There’s also something challenging about knowing if what I’ve done to the work helps it or hurts it.”
Many of the pieces represent something mysterious – up to the viewer’s interpretation – and can change the more it is viewed.
“They look different if you stand 10 feet away than if you stand two feet away, and I like that shifting uncertainty,” Leaver said. “I want them to never quite resolve into something you can easily comprehend.”
“Art takes time to appreciate,” Lord added. “I’m not interested in an instant reaction from people.”
“It’s kind of talking about Jon taking personal experiences, either from things that he’s connected with, or known a history about, and recreating a representative where you can capture that memory,” said ULV alumna Shelby Lindsley who attended the artists’ talk.
“With Keith, he’s really exploring different forms,” Lindsley said. “Now he’s incorporating color, which has helped extract how to make it pop even more.”
The Harris Gallery on campus is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m Monday through Thursday.
The “Parallax” exhibit runs through Oct. 10.
Emma Gonzalez can be reached at emma.gonzalez@laverne.edu.
Emma Gonzalez is a junior communications major with a concentration in public relations and a minor in marketing, and a staff writer for the Campus Times. Her interests include community involvement, art, traveling and writing. Emma’s long-term career objective revolves around working for a nonprofit organization that is passionate about helping a target group of individuals. Follow her on Handshake.
Chris Rodriguez is a senior photography major and photo editor of the Campus Times.
