Art faculty display work in semester’s first exhibit

The Mills Gallery in the Lubbers Center for the Visual Arts will house its first exhibit of the semester, featuring work by art faculty members. An artist reception and talk will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 29 at 5 p.m. in the gallery.

Associate professors of art Mathew Kelly and Brian Roberts, as well as Mills Gallery director and professor of art Treva Reimer, will display their work in the show through Sept. 14.

Reimer shaped her installation, titled “Seeking Refuge,” in attempt to create a retreat from everyday life. A sanctuary of sheer white drapery, Reimer explains in her artist statement the significance of the piece.

“I think everyone seeks refuge from something, although we may not call it refuge. Luckily, most of us don’t need shelter from a hail of bullets or relief from hunger. But we do need a quiet comfort from the many distractions of everyday life, protections from our own misgivings and shortcomings and a myriad of other things in everyday existence that cause us to need refuge.”

Roberts’s work is scattered around the gallery—a series of sculptures and enameled brooches and pendants. According to his artist statement, his geometric sculptures revolve around family roots.

“My work draws on my agricultural background. I often reference the familiar architectural structures that have surrounded me throughout my life. These consist of barns, silos, machine sheds and grain elevators, as well as many other agriculturally related structures. I am drawn to the purity of the geometric forms of these buildings and to the visual complexity of their weathered surfaces.  I look to their rusted and faded exteriors for inspiration in developing the surface treatments of my work.”

Kelly is also featured along the gallery walls with two-dimensional works created with watercolor, ink and graphite.

Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit is free and open to the public.