In “Finding Equilibrium”, Travis Graves’ makes a statement about society’s relationship with the natural world and the effort of finding a balance between the two through his use of material (metal, magnets, wood and lead). In the artist’s statement, he expresses that his choice of raw wood is in reference to the natural world and for our expectations we have attached to it.  The artist, however, presents this material in such a way that attempts to break away from those expectations asking the viewer to reconsider how they perceive these experiences.  The logs are cut, broken, and appear to be deteriorating; yet the artist presents them in a very beautiful, contemplative way questioning what we are seeing.  One sculpture, “In Balance #4”, the artist, who has embedded lead in one end of an eight foot long log, haphazardly balances the end of it on a thin saw horse, yet as awkward and unsettling as it may appear; it makes us question the very weight and material of that raw wood.  He embeds metal and magnets and takes broken pieces of wood and for some he will suspend in mid air and others allowing the wood to feel as though they are exploding from the surface frozen in a moment. He asks, are they falling apart or healing themselves? 

The work is meditative, calming in one way and disturbing and unsettling in another way.  Our natural instinct is to make sense out of what we are seeing and experiencing and trying to find a balance.  This is what makes a seemingly beautiful, and calm exhibition evolve into something a bit more troubling and mysterious, requiring further investigation and exploration.

The gallery will be producing an environmentally friendly catalog and poster for this exhibition by employing the help of environmentally friendly printing company youprintgreen.com.

Gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday 12-6pm and Thursday 12-8pm.  We are closed to the public on Monday and Tuesday.