DIVA is pleased to announce a suite of new exhibits for August of 2008. The exhibition will be on view until Saturday, August 30, 2008. The gallery is open from 12 to 6 pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

The Main Gallery at DIVA will feature "In Light Of" by Michael Boonstra. The focal point of the exhibit are two giant camera obscura structures installed on the north end of the gallery. Hundreds of pinholes drilled in these large structures project the scenery outside the (normally shuttered) windows into the gallery, bringing the colors and the movement of the exterior inside. In addition, Boonstra will display two-dimensional translucent backlit drawings that reference landscapes and natural phenomena. "Much of my work is about topographies, or the study of place," explains Boonstra. Originally from Michigan, Boonstra received his MFA from the University of Oregon in 2002. He has had solo exhibitions and commissions throughout the northwest, and participated in numerous group exhibitions nationally. View by Michael Boonstra.

In Gallery 1, mixed media artist Alison McNair and photographer Denise Wendt have collaborated to create the exhibit "The Hungry Soul: Saints & Servers." McNair's mixed media art was inspired by a summer project at The Dining Room, FOOD for Lane County's downtown community meal site, where families were invited to contribute to an outdoor mural after they had finished dinner. "We had no idea at the time what energy and enthusiasm would emerge," recalls McNair. "I was handing out paint and brushes as fast as I could." Using the motif of a checkered tablecloth, her work revisits and interprets the dynamic of that mural project in a gallery setting. McNair has been leading community mural projects since 1995. "Being a mural artist is like being a performance artist," she muses. "You get a sense of place and people, neighborhood and geography from a unique vantage point." Photographs by Wendt, FOOD for Lane County Marketing Coordinator, are of people served by the food bank and those who serve them – saints and servers both. "Putting a face on hunger is an important part of what we do at FOOD for Lane County," said Wendt. "It personalizes hunger and helps us communicate the scope of the problem in our community. Hunger exists in every community in Lane County, but it often goes unseen, because hunger looks different here." This exhibit was made possible by Bag Ladies of the World and a grant by Lane Arts Council with support from the City of Eugene Cultural Services Division.

Jonathan B. Smith presents "Thrown Before" in Gallery 2. "Objects, things, are omnipresent in our lives - we can hardly imagine a life without objects," explains Smith. "The Latin term 'objectus' is defined as 'something thrown before the mind'; an object is presented to us, and our mind makes sense of what it is and what it means." Smith's large black and white photographs present views of commonplace objects such as old weathered bones. "This collection of objects dance on the edge of description, first becoming one thing, then another. Many are perhaps identifiable, but not wholly descriptive," declares Smith. A native of upstate New York, Smith moved to Oregon to study photography. After graduating from the Fine Art Photography program at the University of Oregon in 2004, he was hired at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the UO as a museum preparator.

 

 

Husband and wife team Kevin Spahn and Sara Smith Spahn have created an interactive installation called "Sight and Sound" for Gallery 3. Kevin Spahn is a musician who has transitioned from traditional instruments to more experimental ones. "I gradually slipped away from formal music as I realized I was more interested in the mechanics of the sound; or, what three guitars and three amplifiers in a circle covered with a blanket would sound like." Sara Smith Spahn is a ceramic sculptor who is transitioning from working with heavy stoneware to the more delicate medium of porcelain. "Working with the fragile properties of porcelain has required patience, forgiveness and calm," she muses. In "Sight and Sound," porcelain wall hangings and three-dimensional works are set up in relation to a series of sound devices which interact with the viewer as they experience the space.

In Gallery 5, Melissa "Mimi" Nolledo presents a fusion of digital art and poetry. Nolledo starts by taking photographs, and then processes and manipulates the photos into new creations, exploring the interactions of color, light, and shadow. Her images sometimes take on a surrealist tone. Nolledo work has graced magazines, book covers, and literary e-zines. The artist was born in Manila to Blanca and (the late) Wilfrido Nolledo, a renowned Filipino fictionist. She inherited her father's writing talents, and her digital artwork is accompanied by samples of her own writing and some of her father's work as well. Nolledo believes passionately in promoting cultural awareness and diversity and serves as a board member of several community organizations such as the Eugene/Springfield Asian Council and the Council of Filipino-American Associations of Oregon & SW Washington (CFAA).

DIVA's Members' Gallery will feature watercolor paintings by Jerry Ward entitled "Rural Landscapes: The Dark Side." This body of work expresses the artist's interpretation of the isolated rural landscapes of Eastern and Central Oregon. Ward uses color, scale and composition to emphasize the isolation, the cold shadows and the eerily empty skies of life on endless plains. Throughout the somber landscapes there always seem to be that splash of light in the white house here, the yellow passage of sun-flooded field there, that speak of hope. "I know my paintings are usually on the cold side, a lot of Phthalo blues and greens. Lately I've become fascinated with crows and ravens placed here and there in the pictures as reminders of how quickly the sinister can enter the scene. I still am drawn to the natural settings, though, like huge old trees that have been around for centuries."

2008 Artists