What makes art interesting? What is engagement all about? It is a conversation that artists have with themselves and other artists. It’s what the new exhibition at the Living Room Gallery at the Tualatin Library is all about this summer, in which the paintings of Rebecca Lockwood, a Tualatin artist, are featured.
When an artist creates an artwork, regardless of the medium, they want the viewer to stand in front of it and look at it a long time, not just give it a passing glance and walk on by. The longer, the better.
Engagement can be achieved through many avenues. Sometimes, artists go for shock value or controversy. Other times, an artist has a message, and it resonates with whatever is in the current cultural mix. What is more challenging for an artist is to take a more ordinary subject and present it in a way that is more conversation-worthy.
This can be accomplished through composition, color, texture, or any of the other elements of art, but sometimes it comes down to details. When you look at that painting, you see something, and it makes you ask a question: “Why is that in there?” Then you look deeper, and you see other details, and you ask how they are related. Before you know it, you are connecting the dots and interacting with an emerging story.
Maybe it is the story of the artist, or the story the artist wants to tell. Or maybe it’s your story you are bringing into the painting. Regardless, when this happens, this is called engagement. The longer the viewer looks at the painting and studies it, the higher the engagement. It is the holy grail for the artist to keep your attention and be worthy of it.
Our artist for this summer is longtime Tualatin artist Rebecca Lockwood, who works in many media and always keeps things interesting. She creates engagement with subtle details, and twists that flow from her unique sense of humor. Rebecca says, “I don’t consider myself just an artist, I am a Maker. It is my belief that if I can Dream it, I will Make it.”
In the gallery space of the Library, you will find one long stretch of wall with paintings that truly represent visual storytelling, but you have to look for it and connect the dots. A constellation of paintings: A simple cabin in the woods. A thumbprint. A canoe by a lake. Crime scene tape? Are all of these scenes from the same location? What happened here? Is that blood? Each painting stands alone as its own little vignette. And yet, they are also all connected, offering us a larger plot and giving us the gift of engagement.
Rebecca‘s artwork is different and familiar at the same time. She clearly can paint a subject to great effect, as with her wall of animals – a dog who looks like a fox, a shy rabbit, and an extraordinary ostrich. Each has personality and flair. Her personality very much comes through in the funkier pieces, which are more abstract and show her sense of humor and love of detail.
The exhibit includes paintings and digital artwork, large and small. There is something in the show for everyone to tickle your brain and get you thinking. It is as if Rebecca is asking you, “Do you see it? Do you get it?” This is your challenge – to visit the show and see if you get the story.
While none of Rebecca’s original artwork is for sale, you may contact her at shop@basillarose.com to inquire about giclee prints.
This program is sponsored in part by the Tualatin Arts Advisory Committee. If you would like to learn more about this program, contact Angela Wrahtz at angela.wrahtz@comcast.net.
