February 9 – March 27
Paper Forest: An Installation by Travis Graves
Creighton University Lied Art Gallery, 2500 California Plaza
Artist Talk: 5pm, Friday, February 8. 2013
Opening Reception to follow from 5:30-8pm Regular hours:1–4 pm daily
www.creighton.edu/liedgallery; www.travisgraves.com
The Lied Art Gallery is exhibiting Paper Forest: An Installation by Travis Graves. The site specific installation is an analysis of the culture/nature divide experienced in contemporary life. This theme runs throughout much of Graves’ work. The exhibition will partially include Kraft-paper columns rising from floor to ceiling, paper stumps and tree segments ringed by sawdust, and monumental branchless trunks, hollow and paper-thin. The brown paper resembles bark in color, though its smooth texture speaks to industrial production. An extensive cross-country trip, spanning the western United States and Canada during his second year of graduate school enlarged Graves’ understanding of Nature. Long hikes on the Appalachian Trail add to his concern for the dichotomy between people and Nature today. The East Tennessee State University Associate Professor earned his MFA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003.”Questioning my relationship with Nature has made me come to terms with all my interactions. Doing this work compels me to live a more conscious life.” Graves’ work has recently been exhibited at The Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center in Covington, Ky.; The Urban Institute for Contemporary Art in Grand Rapids, Mich.; The William King Museum in Abingdon, Va.; Redux Contemporary Art Center in Charleston, S.C.; and the Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, Ky. The exhibition is free to the public.