The diverse spaces offer every type of artist — ?sculptors, painters and beyond — a platform to amplify their creative voice.
The galleries of Bloomington ushered in a new year of Gallery Walks on Friday, with artists from all across the spectrum sharing their distinct inspirations.
The Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center displayed works by four artists throughout their expansive gallery space.
On the ground floor were the vibrant sculptures and graphite drawings of Laura Levine, an artist from Carmel, Ind. Levine said her inspiration was drawn from mythology and the war between nature and industry.
“There’s a battle, which essentially is the industrial world fighting the natural world,” Levine said. “As you can see, it looks like the industrial world is winning but the natural world brings forth the vines. You know how things happen like storms, diseases, typhoons, what have you, the natural world fights back in really strident ways.”
Some of Levine’s pieces send a message about consuming faith.
“This piece is about basically how some people have this sort of passion and fire, like a religious intensity, so I kind of I’ve always found it really interesting,” Levine said. “It’s not exactly my character, but it’s interesting to observe.”
Upstairs, artist Erik Probst displayed works made in April that were inspired by his experience studying under another artist in Norway.
“It definitely played a role in terms of work ethic, certain ideas around representational painting, I went with it,” Probst said. “Since I got back I had all this inspiration and all these ideas.”
Probst said he was humbled his pieces were chosen for the walk, especially at the John Waldron, as he grew up with a special connection to the space.
“Before Ivy Tech bought this building, I took classes as a child here,” Probst said. “I took cartooning classes with Joe Lee, he actually did stuff in the newspaper here. So I’m familiar with the ?Waldron.”
Further downtown, the Blueline Gallery hosted “Disjointed Realities,” works by master of fine arts students from IU.
Kaitlin Dodds is one of the artists on display, and she explained the distinct ?worldviews of the artists played a key role in assembling this exhibit.
“We wanted to ultimately have a show together, but because everybody’s styles and concepts and painting styles were so different it was kind of a play on how everyone sees the world differently, but they can all relate in some way,” Dodds said.
One side of the room had more muted, natural-toned paintings while the other was full of brightly colored pieces. Dodds’ piece adorned the natural side.
“My piece is the frame over there that has the skull and nature items in it,” Dodds said. “We decorate our apartments, our houses with all these things that represent nature but aren’t realistic, instead of actually interacting with nature itself.”
Greg Burak’s piece was also on the natural side.
The painting depicted a still shot of a woman sitting in a room and the piece was one of the largest in the ?gallery.
“Mine is the figure in the interior over there,” Burak said. “Mostly it’s about kind of slice-of-life daily routines, commonplace sort of view.”
Pictura Gallery hosted the work of two photographers, David Magnusson and Sophie Kirchner, who Curator Mia Dalglish said made powerful statements with their work.
“Immediately when you see these images, they bring up so many questions,” Dalglish said. “Especially David Magnusson’s work is about this very controversial subject and right away people have this immediate reaction to it, which usually has to do with their own beliefs about it.”
Magnusson’s collection, titled “Purity,” displayed ?fathers and daughters after attending purity balls, while Sophie Kirchner’s were headshots of women after they participated in traditionally male sports.
Dalglish said the works are meant to present a neutral perspective on the issues they deal with.
“Both of the photographers are shooting these with a really open agenda,” Dalglish said. “If they were to even have agenda, it would be to sort of present the issue, allow people to see it from all these different sides.”
Owner David Moore said the show epitomizes what photography and art in ?general are meant to do.
“It really shows the power of photography, this is really what art should do,” Moore said. “Create these amazing dialogues, these questions, and make you ask things and remember things.”
The Venue displayed works by Mark Zehrung of Indianapolis, paintings full of bright oranges, reds and ?yellows.
“Really the motivation behind these, it’s always being homesick and thinking about California, the beach,” Zehrung said. “So that’s what I use for inspiration in terms of colors and combinations.”
Zehrung said he and Gabe Colman, curator for the Venue, have a good working relationship, and he frequently displays his art at the gallery.
“It’s always fun to come down here,” Zehrung said. “It’s a good environment, a good escape from the city.”
