Hillstrom displays contemporary photography

The Hillstrom Museum of Art proudly presents Imagined Worlds, Large and Small: the Photographs of Sarah Hobbs and Lori Nix. The exhibit opened Feb. 16 and will be open through April 19.

The exhibit features 18 photographs by Hobbs and Nix. Hobbs earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Art History and her Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) in Photography at the University of Georgia-Athen. She works mainly with domestic spaces and deals with neuroses that affect many people. She also uses an element of humor in the titles of her work.

“My inspiration comes from a lot of different places,” Hobbs said. “Movies, television, other art, anywhere I can get it.”

Nix attended Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, where she earned a BFA in both Photography and Ceramics, and a BA in Art History. She also attended Ohio University for her MFA in Photography. Nix works in miniatures; creating dioramas and making most of the artifacts seen in her photography with help from her partner, Kathleen. Working out of her Brooklyn apartment, Nix and Kathleen spend months working on two projects at a time. When the diorama is constructed, Nix photographs it close-up on 8×10 film, making the scene appear life-sized.

“Her images are very apocalyptic,” Director of the Hillstrom Museum Don Myers, said. “So they’re serious and sobering but then there’s also interesting bits that grab you. It’s a really cool effect.”

The exhibit kicked off with an opening reception on Feb. 23 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Hillstrom Museum. The Museum is conveniently located downstairs in the Campus Center and is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends. This exhibit and all others that show at the Museum are free and open to the public.

“One of my goals is to make sure people understand that we have pretty liberal hours here and that we welcome anyone to come at any time that we’re open,” Myers said. “It’s easy to pop in for a few minutes. There’s nothing I like better than to have people coming and seeing the exhibits.”

Most of the photographs in the exhibit are large, featuring only a few smaller images by Nix. Some of the larger pieces take up nearly the whole space where they are hung.

“I think the scale of the photography alone makes it very appealing and compelling,” Myers said. “With an image that’s four or five feet wide you really become enveloped. That makes them very insistent and really drives home their impact. When you see a really large photograph like that it does something to you and it has a real effect.”

Nix and Hobbs presented a gallery talk, which was open to the public, on Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Hillstrom Museum. The talk was supported by the Gustavus Artists Series. The two artists have worked together in the past, participating in a group exhibition titled Room in My Head: Staging Psychological Space at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta in 2012.

“Sarah is a great artist,” Nix said. “It’s wonderful to share a show with her.”

While visiting the campus, Hobbs facilitated a workshop for the Digital Photography II course at Gustavus, taught by Pricsilla Briggs, Professor in Art and Art History and Program Director in Film and Media Studies. The workshop was supported by the Ethel and Edgar Johnson Fund for the Arts. The students in the class decided to each create their own piece similar to what Hobbs does. “My process takes a long time,” Hobbs said. “It can be frustrating. It’s a completely new way of working for them.”

This was a different way of working for the students.

“It’s very exciting to have an exhibit devoted to contemporary photography in the museum so that my students can see this work up close right here on campus,” Briggs said. “The workshop with Sarah Hobbs is a great opportunity for students to work with a visiting artist whose work is available to view and reference in the museum.”

-Kim Krulish