Manipulated View: Images of the West

Manipulated View: Images of the West

                On February 27th, I attended the reception for an exhibit in Sheppard Contemporary at the University of Nevada, Reno. The exhibit was titled Manipulated View: Images of the West and featured a variety of artists and works by them that represented the landscapes and scenery of the American West. Artist who had work on display included Kendra Larson, Emily Nachison, Rosemary Bodolay, Alex J. Pena, and Julia Schwardron. 

                Like most receptions at the university, the attendees were friendly, the atmosphere was positive, and the food was great. While all the pieces on display were stunning, a few really stood out to me. The first of these was "Portal" by Emily Nachison. The work featured a circular disk that was place on the ground with various mushroom sculptures featured around the edge of the disk. Despite growing up in the American West, I haven't seen much outside of the southern desert of Nevada. Mushrooms aren't something that I know a lot about and I've only had a few encounters with ones growing naturally. I'm also a big fan of sculpture and three dimensional pieces. These reasons are probably why I really loved to look at this piece. I'm assuming the varying of the mushrooms around the disk represent the life cycle of mushrooms, although I'm not entirely. Aside from what the mushrooms represent, I believe this piece to be compositionally beautiful. I the size, shadows, and negative space in the center are really striking. I don't believe this piece would have been as powerful if the center had been filled with something.

"Portal" by Emily Nachison

                A second piece that I really enjoyed was "Mt St Helens" by Kendra Larson. When entering the exhibit space, "Mt St Helens" is the first thing most people were drawn to, I noticed. It's quite large and also quite beautiful. During the reception, I was one of the first people to arrive. My boyfriend and I went over to the painting immediately to observe. While doing so, another attendee came over to us and started talking about her personal experiences with Mt. St. Helens. She even described how she had viewed the volcano from the perspective of the painting. I found this experience to be the most memorable of the reception because it showed how art can connect people. I have never been to Washington, but I plan on visiting in the future. Not only did this painting connect me to the landscape of the state, but also to the people who have once resided there.

"Mt. St. Helens" by Kendra Larson

                Overall, the reception was a wonderful experience that I wish I could experience again. The art was beautiful with a variety of different piece from different media, including sculpture, video, painting, and more. The experiences I had at the reception have only helped me develop and even great love and understanding for art and the ways it works.