October 25 - December 13, 2018

 

Framing Interference is a joint exhibition by Jodi Lightner and Adrian Rhodes, two artists who explore the concept of structures and patterns in their work, both literal architectural structures and metaphorical patterns of behavior. They analyze these frameworks and what interrupts or shifts them, and how this affects the way we perceive the world around us.  This disruption of long established patterns may create chaos and uncertainty, but also gives room to put our views into perspective and question the system.

Jodi Lightner is an Associate Professor of Art at Montana State University Billings where she teaches courses that involve pencils, paint, and presses and overseas the foundation courses. She received her MFA in painting from Wichita State University in 2010 and continues her studio practice in Montana through national and international exhibitions. Lightner enjoys artist residencies focused on studio practice and has spent time at the International School of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture in Montecastello diVibio, Italy, Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont, Ucross Fellowship, Wyoming and was the emerging artist in residency at Penn State Altoona. 

Invisible Cities, a work of fiction by Italo Calvino, is the catalyst for Lightner’s work. Taking reference from the book’s description of a visitor experiencing unknown cities influenced by sociological behaviors, the series examines how patterns of perception and recognition are challenged in a world of fabricated structures and schedules. It draws from the compression of space within the urban place and the layered nature of perception to envision the misinterpretation of memory, dreams, and desire as physical influences on architecture and social patterns. Going beyond the intuitive side of logic, the work stands in place of a blueprint for impossible architecture that embodies the moments when patterns are interrupted and new variations are integrated into a preconceived system.  Lightner’s work envisions these new constructs and the possibility of human influence on the architecture around us.

Adrian Rhodes grew up in Hartsville, South Carolina. She attended Winthrop University from 2001-2005, earning a BFA in General Studio in Drawing and Painting. She returned to Winthrop, receiving her MFA in Painting with a minor in Printmaking in 2011. Her work has shown throughout the Carolinas, including select solo exhibitions and juried exhibitions. Her work was recently featured in the Paper Worlds exhibition at the Spartanburg Art Museum in Spartanburg, SC.

Caught between the death of my parents and the fierce joy of raising daughters, I attempt to hold these extremes simultaneously. Using printmaking as a vehicle for installation, my process reflects recalibration inherent in the search for  “new normal” as life shifts the ground beneath me.

Within each piece I combine imagery in a search for understanding. Using the iconography of objects I attempt to frame a question-  “How can we hold extremes of bitter and sweet - forces which stand in such opposition they shouldn’t coexist, and yet they do- so how do we find the balance of them?”

 
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 25,^, 2018 from 5-7 pm with gallery talk at 6pm