If you’re looking for an impactful art exhibit to challenge your perspective on the familiar world around you, then you’re in luck. In Whitworth’s very own Lied Center for the Visual Arts, a new intentional collection of art is presented.
According to Krista Brand’s artist statement, she is a “multidisciplinary artist and curator.” Brand is a WSU graduate and started this project as a graduate student there. “Periphery,” as stated in Brand’s exhibit statement, encapsulates the “exploration of proximity and origins through noticing and collecting.” In this exhibit, Brand focuses special attention on everyday spaces and discarded items, making these things take on a deeper, more personal meaning.
Initially entering the exhibit, you’re greeted with the understanding of the peripheral space and the “simpler, stripped down versions of waste,” said Brian Oliver Gallery Director Lance Sinnema.
A colleague of Brand’s, from WSU, recommended Brand’s work to Sinnema. “Along with teaching courses, I am the gallery director, which means that I am responsible for setting up exhibits in the gallery and for finding the artists,” Sinnema said. “The actual choosing of the artists is more of a group decision.”
Being in the space Brand created engages audiences in contemplation of humanity’s relationship with waste, the Earth and space. Her use of tan colors and neutrals, for example, might remind the audience of the Earth. The innocent faces painted on unwanted objects give a new meaning to the meaningless. Seeing the rocks and the plastic cups she collected stripped down to their “simpler form” is a way to humanize the waste and relate to it.
“My favorite piece is not so much a piece itself but the collective exhibit,” Sinnema shared. “If one part of it was taken out, like the canvases or the sculptures, the collective whole would not be as strong on their own. They need each other.”
On Tuesday, Sept. 27 the Lied Center for the Visual Arts held an opening reception for Brand’s exhibit from 5 p.m.- 6 p.m. The reception was followed by an artist lecture from Brand herself in the Lied Art Center Room 102 from 6 p.m.- 7 p.m.
Gallery hours are Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.- 4:30 p.m and Saturday from 10 a.m- 2 p.m. Be sure to stop by before the exhibit’s last day, Oct. 28. For the full experience, grab a copy of the “Periphery” artist book and watch the “Caution to the Wind” video on the way into the exhibit. You won’t regret it.
For more information, call 509.777.3258 or email [email protected].
