Evocative Arrangements

GAMBIER, Ohio (November 3, 2003) Hybrid sculptures combining elements of photography, metal armatures, and tools comprise the evocative arrangements of photographer and sculptor Ellen Garvens. Her work will be on display at Kenyon's Olin Art Gallery from Thursday, November 6, through Sunday, December 14. The artist will present a slide lecture for the exhibit on Thursday, November 6, at 7:30 p.m. in Olin Auditorium. The lecture will be followed by an opening reception in the gallery.

Having worked as a beekeeper and as an electronic microscope operator for the entomology department at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Garvens incorporates those experiences in her work. The exhibition, entitled"Segments," features four bodies of work, but focuses on her insect constructions. Garvens's sculptures perch on the walls as stilled life, while still suggesting movement.

The use of tools such as pliers and tweezers, combined with the artist's sepia-toned photographs, which depict organic form, represent the interdependence between human life and technology.

The "Segments" exhibit will feature "Lincoln Logs," a photograph that presents childhood play in mirror images of left and right hands. The hands are aged, and the toy's prosthetic becomes a paean to the aging process. The viewer is left with the impression of a child coming of age within the adult body.

Guest essayist Jessica Burstein, an assistant English professor at the University of Washington, says Garvens walks a line between the inorganic and the organic. "The result is something between the clinical and the dreamwork, operating on the terrain of a surreal utilitarianism. The viewer will be unsettled, and rightly so," she says.

Hours at the Olin Gallery are 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Dan Younger, director of the Olin Art Gallery, at 740-427-5346 or youngerd@kenyon.edu. Visit the Olin Art Gallery on the Web at www2.kenyon.edu/artgallery.

One of the nation's leading liberal arts and sciences colleges and home to the Kenyon Review, Kenyon College offers 1,594 students a challenging educational experience enriched by a culture of friendship. Graduates of the College have included actor and philanthropist Paul Newman and Pulitzer-prize winning author E. L. Doctorow.