Lydia Gravis, Touching the Void
SHOW DATES DECEMBER 6, 2019 – FEBRUARY 29, 2020
OPENING RECEPTION FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6, 6-9PM ARTIST MEET & GREET FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 6-9PM
LOCATION THE ARGO HOUSE, 529 25THSTREET, OGDEN UT 84401
Carper Contemporary Presents Pop Up Exhibition for Utah Artist Lydia Gravis at The Argo House
Touching the Void is an exhibition of abstract drawings and paintings by Ogden-based artist Lydia Gravis, who uses physical mark-making as an empathic response to the intangible human experiences of everyday life. Rather than deconstruct something familiar such as the landscape or figure, Gravis’ work provides a visual reference for abstract thought, which is at once challenging and intriguing for the viewer. Presented by Carper Contemporary at The Argo House, Touching the Void features over twenty pieces by Gravis that range from intimate drawings to dizzying compositions created with graphite, watercolor, ink or oil.
"Instead of taking something specific, and abstracting it's essence, my work attempts to take something abstract, like the idea of liminal psychological space, and suggest it's specificity through visual language,” says Gravis. “We become overwhelmed by experiences we don’t understand, but we’re also seduced by our desire to understand them more clearly. I use mark-making and obsessive micro-textures to express that tension. By conjuring and obscuring biomorphic shapes with graphite and water media I attempt to depict these infinite psychological spaces of human experience, giving the illusion of form to something that seems present but simultaneously formless.”
Lydia Gravis (b. 1981) lives and works in Ogden, Utah. She earned her B.A. in painting and drawing from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C. in 2003 and her MFA in visual art from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University in 2013. She has worked has Gallery Director of the Mary Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery within the Department of Visual Art and Design at Weber State University since 2014.
