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 More than most styles, abstract calls upon the artist to take
some familiar object or theme, and with color and design and emotion
change it into something that may be unrecognizable, at least to the
casual viewer. To the artist though, this mash up may be the truest
expression of their spiritual values and vision.
The range of styles in the ABSTRACT Show encompasses paintings to
poetry, installation art, to sculpture. The members of Logan County
Arts gave free reign to their imaginations.
Cheryl Spove’s organic sculpture “Still Lives” is an expression of
her deeply held spiritual beliefs. Depending on how the word “Lives”
is pronounced, the sculpture can have multiple meanings. If the word
is pronounced with a short i, the meaning is an expression of
Cheryl’s beliefs that when something dies, a part of it lives on.
Her sculpture is composed partially of a gourd that is no longer
hanging from a green vine, but has reached another state. While the
gourd may no longer be a living thing, the surface is. The beautiful
shapes and colors on the surface are decoration produced by natural
evolution of living organisms. A series of events was set in motion
after the gourd died, in this case a physical change. “The change
can be metaphysical as well as physical,” she said.
Rob Swofford also believes that emotions find expression in the
abstract style. “My inspiration for a work depends on the day. I’m
more of a responsive artist rather than proactive. My emotions make
my art more sincere,” he said. His self-portrait is a case in point.
He chose incidents in his life and created a work that knitted them
together on canvas.
Poet Vern Phillips headed in a different direction stylistically
from his usual work. He chose a style called mesostic in which a
highlighted word placed vertically within the body of the poem ties
all of the lines together. Phillips is considering a book composed
of his poetry and the photography of Gaye Simpson.
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Jason Hoffman created an installation at the show that is multi-layered. The
rows of different sized baggies contain paint chips. While this may seem a
whimsical use of leftover paint, the work has a very serious foundation and
ethic. Jason chose baggies because of their sinister use in the drug culture,
and filled them with paint rather than drugs to highlight his conviction that a
world with more art will inevitably be a better place. While all of the works in
the ABSTRACT show are for sale, Jason’s idea is to sell his work by the baggie
for a person to take home and create art rather than sorrow, as is always the
case with illicit drugs. “Each bag is an individual sculpture,” he said.
ABSTRACT runs through the end of August at the Lincoln Art Institute. Contact
Moses Pinkerton at 217-651-8355 to schedule a visit to the gallery after opening
night. The next presentation at LAI will be a one man show by Lincoln artist
Jason Hoffman entitled COSMOS 6528. The opening will be Saturday, September 26
beginning at 5 p.m. An artist lecture will be held at LAI on Wednesday, October
14 at 7 p.m.
[Curt Fox]
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