October 29, 2012

Professor Tomlinson showing at the Sarah Spurgeon Gallery

Adjacent Possibilities- New show by Cara Tomlinson

Professor Cara Tomlinson will be exhibiting her new show, Adjacent Possibilities at the Sarah Spurgeon Gallery at Central Washington University from November 3 through December 2nd. 

The title of the exhibit, Adjacent Possibles, is from evolutionary biology. It has been used to discuss the origins of innovative ideas, and how those ideas are shaped by the creator’s process and environment. In response, Tomlinson’s recent works are visual acts of construction where one step in the act of creation has led to the next. As Tomlinson writes, “I collaborate with material and form. There is an ecology in the studio wherein a co-evolution of forms takes place.” Painting and sculpture become scaffolds to support luxurious color; the two dimensional and three dimensional are one of a series of oppositions the artist uses to explore how environments, paintings, and physical bodies are made.

Cara Tomlinson lives and works in Portland, Oregon, where she is Associate Professor of Art and Studio Head of Painting at Lewis & Clark College. She earned her undergraduate degree from Bennington College and her MFA from the University of Oregon. Among other national exhibits and awards, she recently received a 2012 Individual Artist Fellowship from the Oregon Arts Commission and exhibited her work in the Oregon Governor’s Office.