Art Exhibits on Display Oct. 9–Nov. 2, 2023
Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) welcomes its local and student artists exhibits, which will be on display from Oct. 9 through Nov. 2, 2023. An opening artists’ reception and artist’s talk by Nolan Preece will be held on Oct. 11 from 5–7 p.m. at the V. James Eardley Student Center in front of the Main Gallery. The opening artists’ reception will also be taking place by the Red Mountain Gallery on the 3rd floor in the Red Mountain Building on the Dandini Campus. Refreshments will be available, and exhibitions are made free and open to the public.
TMCC Main Gallery: Chemigrams by Nolan Preece
Nolan Preece’s chemigram process is an equal mix of painting, printmaking and photography. Chemigrams are made without the use of a camera and in full light on silver-based photographic materials. And like any other medium, the chemigram's visual vocabulary is solely dependent on the innovation and imagination of the artist. Chemigrams are initiated by applying resists to the surface of photographic paper. Examples of resists are tape, acrylic finishes, and glue. Resists are a standard printmaking technique that inhibits and randomly allows the chemistry to work its way into the paper emulsion, producing the unique visual effects common to the chemigram. After the resist dries, the print is processed by cycling it between developer and fixer with a water rinse in between, in a series of similar fifteen-minute cycles. Later on, dried prints can be digitally scanned and modified with a computer to adjust color and contrast and increase the scale. The resulting prints are quite magical – this is where the chemigramist gets that mesmerizing organic look, where the lines form and the colors bloom. One constant is the haunting beauty – there is an overpowering depth that does not come by perspective as much as it slips through the subconscious. There is a sense of deep searching, as if all the intricacies of nature match and both flaws and beauty coalesce.
Red Mountain Gallery: Fossil - Creature - Artifact by Elaine Parks
Elaine Parks' objects of contemplation are about her years of engagement with the desert landscape. In this series of ceramic sculpture, Parks takes into account her shifting perspectives of the vast landscape and the closely observed details of the desert. This work synthesizes the qualities of the creaturely, artifact and fossil. The making process involves very detailed manipulation of each piece to create highly realized forms with a timeless quality. The forms are invented during the process of making. Taking advantage of the malleable quality of clay, Parks creates structures that enclose and expose space. One form will lead to another with slight variation in construction creating forms that have different feeling and character. Tension is created by the difficulty of pinning down a name to associate with each piece. The sculptures resemble skulls, pelvis, teeth, cross section of bone and coral and many other associations. While no piece is created intentionally to mimic nature specifically, the combination of deep interest in the landscape and the hours handling each piece creates a resolved object that serves as an artifact. At the heart of this work is a desire to make objects of contemplation, to bring attention to nature and to find value in the desert landscape.
Erik Lauritzen Gallery: Echoes by Bridget Enderle
Bridget Enderle’s paintings and drawings employ the language of ordinary objects and architecture to reflect on memory, emotions, and mental struggles common to the human experience. Despite having lived many places, Enderle has formed strong connections with the spaces she has lived and routinely travels through, which collectively influence her sense of self. The objects Enderle depicts often retain traces of the human presence and serve as vessels of memory; as such, they are living archives imbued with personal meaning. Her drawing practice engages frottage, a technique developed by Max Ernst that involves rubbing drawing materials over surfaces to record their textures. She collects pencil rubbings extemporaneously in the places she navigates. When stifled by intrusive memories and ruminating thoughts, this compulsive gesture returns Enderle and grounds her in the present. The artworks featured in Echoes are selections from two related projects that address themes of isolation, vulnerability, loss, and loneliness. The “Ghost Bike” paintings are a part of an ongoing series that respond to Ghost Bike memorials she encounters while bicycling and walking. The sites mark the locations of people who die while riding bicycles and are a form of protest advocating for safer, human-scale streets.
Red Mountain Student Gallery: Art 209 Curated show, Left Behind
This exhibit features a curated show by TMCC’s Art 209 Gallery Practices class taught by TMCC Curator Kyle Karrasch. “In our exhibit, left behind, we invite you to explore a unique collection of artworks that have been rediscovered and given new life after being left behind by their creators. These pieces, once overlooked, now stand as testament to the untamed spirit of artistic expression. Each piece carries within it a whisper of the artist’s intent, a glimpse into their creative journey. Abandoned after a student art show, these works found themselves relegated to the shadows, awaiting their moment to resurface. As curators and students, we felt profoundly responsible to rescue these forgotten voices, to uncover the stories they longed to tell. In doing so we pay homage to the fleeting nature of inspiration and the boundless potential that lies within every piece of art.”
