Opening Reception:
Thursday, February 5, 5-7 pm
Simmons University presents Ubiquitous, a mixed media installation of work by Michelle Lougee, from February 4-March 5, 2015 at the Trustman Art Gallery, located on the fourth floor, Main College Building, 300 the Fenway in Boston. A reception from 5-7 PM. will be held on Thursday, February 5. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.
The idiosyncratic work of Michelle Lougee reflects on the interconnections in our world. Many of her organic, cellular forms are created using the omnipresent plastic shopping bag. Bags come in luscious, inviting colors, yet they add to the destruction of our environment by their manufacture and their inability to decompose. Lougee uses the bags to make nests, or little critters, thereby creating a tension between the plastic and the natural. Her ladder-like work, Ascent, with its dangling teardrop construction, much like insect larvae cocoons or bird’s nests – tapers as it reaches the top rung. This narrowing of maneuvering room suggests that our choices are being circumscribed by our use of unnatural materials.
Lougee is also showing a series of drawings, not made with traditional materials but with her signature bags, layering elements like papyrus paper and fabric with the “line” created by stitching. These textural works evoke microscopic structures, suggesting an underlying, unseen world that is bulging with possibilities and life. Assemble features a crowd of cellular shapes aggregating on the right side of the work – they might even be dividing– as they aren’t of a standard size and each has a strong nucleus. She also creates clay squares intimating a rich cellular order. Lougee looks into the heart of our pulsing world, depicting macro and micro life forms. She uses ubiquitous material to grant us a new look at our everyday world.
The Gallery continues its Lunchtime Lecture series on February 26 from 12:30-1:30 with a presentation by Associate Professor of Chemistry Richard Gurney, who will discuss Trash to Treasure, followed by discussion.
Trustman Art Gallery hours are 10 AM – 4:30 PM, Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, 10 AM – 7 PM on Wednesday and Thursday. The gallery is free, open to the public and wheelchair accessible. For more information, contact Kyle Mendelsohn at (617) 521-2268 or find us on Instagram.