Parallax: Reception

Parallax is a two-person faculty exhibition featuring watercolors and drawings by Jon Leaver and sculptures by Keith Lord. The works presented range from representational landscape imagery to abstract assembled sculpture. On the face of it, these 2-D and 3-D practices may appear divergent – their different viewpoints resulting in the parallax view of the show’s title – but upon closer inspection, shared conceptual themes and playful creative connections are revealed.

Keith Lord’s sculptures are made from multiple segments of cut wood. The process of cutting and connecting segments is akin to an improvisational dance in which Lord navigates twists and turns until an intriguing form reveals itself. These sculptures seem to have grown into their sinuous structures. Discovering unique qualities in found wood – leftover laminated flooring, salvaged stair runs, or extra IKEA parts – he utilizes wood grain patterns, machine-finished edges, and stained puncture marks from old nails to imbue his work with quirky characteristics and distinct personalities. Possessing qualities of being both naturally formed with flowing curves and precisely engineered with geometric structures, Lord’s sculptures may allude to looping strands of organic tissue or feel like an essential part of sci-fi gadgetry.

Also incorporating found material, Jon Leaver’s watercolors depict Beaufort Scale photographs which indicate degrees of observed windspeed conditions at sea. The intimate scale of these works and the careful articulation of photo-realistic waves bring to mind the environments presented in Vija Celmins’s precise paintings. Interrupting the blue seascapes, a black or white circle appears near the center of the composition. Either painted on the watercolor’s surface with acrylic or cut out revealing a sub-surface, these large singular dots are seemingly unrelated to any other aspect of the picture. Reading as a playful bit of pop or a fly in the ointment, the circles add an element of excitement encouraging viewers to look closer to find meaning beyond their first impression or quite literally below the surface.