In our Gallery...
Posted 6/28/2011 / Labels: Visual Arts
July Exhibit
“A to Z”
by Lisa Burroughs-Betras
On display July 5 - August 1
An opening reception will be held
Friday, July 15 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Lisa Burroughs-Betras spent five years creating the ABCs. “A to Z” is the completed project of photographic images representing each letter as a powerful symbol. Most notably the former creative photography director of Newsweek magazine, she has spent most of her career as the photography director of publications in New York and Toronto, Canada. Now the U.S.-Canadian citizen teaches photography and tackles personal projects dividing her time between home in Ohio and a yurt in New Mexico with solar panels to power her computer.
"I created the Z at the beach, beginning with the last letter of the alphabet first. Working at the beach was impractical, so I composed most of the letters in a sand box in my back yard. The background textures were, primarily, sand mixed with water used as brush strokes, textures, or sculpted shapes. I would choose the visual components, build each letter, expose it to the elements and capture the images as the sun added another dimension of mystery through the shadows of trees and blowing leaves. Often my job was just to be there and to capture the right moment to take the picture but this became a meditation, quite a tender devotion to what was happening moment to moment.
"The years of working as a photography director - nurturing successful photographers, while an artistic endeavor, wasn't the same as making my own art work. Teaching stimulated my coming back full circle to my fine art roots. So this project came about as a lovely surprise, a chance to embrace my own creative vision.
"Lately I am being asked to discuss the ABC's in conceptual terms. I am resisting that but I do recall some notions as I was working, having to do with the original mystery of symbols, letters and words as magical. Indigenous peoples and old earth based religions believed the word or symbol itself possessed the power of the object it represented. Those symbols were spiritually meaningful and the people were connected through those symbols in a profound and sacred way. In our consumer culture the letter and the word is more than disconnected so maybe the resonance of this work reminds us that through powerful alive symbols we were once connected to sacred purpose itself. This gives us a notion of what has been lost.
--Lisa Burroughs-Betras
Gallery hours:
Mon. - Thurs. 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Fri. 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Sat. 9 a.m. - Noon
The gallery is also open before all theater performances
and during intermission.
Admission to the gallery is free.
“A to Z”
by Lisa Burroughs-Betras
On display July 5 - August 1
An opening reception will be held
Friday, July 15 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Lisa Burroughs-Betras spent five years creating the ABCs. “A to Z” is the completed project of photographic images representing each letter as a powerful symbol. Most notably the former creative photography director of Newsweek magazine, she has spent most of her career as the photography director of publications in New York and Toronto, Canada. Now the U.S.-Canadian citizen teaches photography and tackles personal projects dividing her time between home in Ohio and a yurt in New Mexico with solar panels to power her computer.
"I created the Z at the beach, beginning with the last letter of the alphabet first. Working at the beach was impractical, so I composed most of the letters in a sand box in my back yard. The background textures were, primarily, sand mixed with water used as brush strokes, textures, or sculpted shapes. I would choose the visual components, build each letter, expose it to the elements and capture the images as the sun added another dimension of mystery through the shadows of trees and blowing leaves. Often my job was just to be there and to capture the right moment to take the picture but this became a meditation, quite a tender devotion to what was happening moment to moment.
"The years of working as a photography director - nurturing successful photographers, while an artistic endeavor, wasn't the same as making my own art work. Teaching stimulated my coming back full circle to my fine art roots. So this project came about as a lovely surprise, a chance to embrace my own creative vision.
"Lately I am being asked to discuss the ABC's in conceptual terms. I am resisting that but I do recall some notions as I was working, having to do with the original mystery of symbols, letters and words as magical. Indigenous peoples and old earth based religions believed the word or symbol itself possessed the power of the object it represented. Those symbols were spiritually meaningful and the people were connected through those symbols in a profound and sacred way. In our consumer culture the letter and the word is more than disconnected so maybe the resonance of this work reminds us that through powerful alive symbols we were once connected to sacred purpose itself. This gives us a notion of what has been lost.
--Lisa Burroughs-Betras
Gallery hours:
Mon. - Thurs. 9 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Fri. 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Sat. 9 a.m. - Noon
The gallery is also open before all theater performances
and during intermission.
Admission to the gallery is free.
