Kathy Lovas
When the ice storm of February 2021 hit Dallas, with all the outdoor flora frozen to death, it was hard to imagine something beautiful emerging. Yet a new exhibit at Terrain Dallas, a public-art exhibition space in Elmwood, reveals remains of bushes lost during that freeze as art as well as a visual reminder of the effects of extreme climate on life.
Beginning July 10 (through Aug. 13), Terrain hosts artist Kathy Lovas’ Freeze, which the artist calls “an installation in response to climate change.”
Lovas’ is a multi-disciplinary artist working in photography, sculpture and installation, according to a statement about the exhibit.
“Her projects reference current and past events using familiar objects or words, and she often draws on personal experiences in her narrative work.”
For Freeze, Lovas uses the bare limbs of several pittosporum bushes collected after the storm. Painted white, they resemble skeletal figures and sit starkly against the backdrop of Terrain’s lush green lawn, according to the news release. Surrounding these “sculptural omens” are other familiar yard objects — a ceramic sun and moon with human features, for example.
“These objects stand in silence over the ghostly sculptures, adding a layer of warning within the guise of whimsical yard art,” according to the announcement.
The pittosporum, a hardy evergreen flowering hedge in typical conditions, serve to highlight the fragility of life subjected to extreme and unusual weather that can be a product of global warming.
“Lovas’ installation turns the landscape at Terrain Dallas into a graveyard,” notes the presser, “hinting at the coming effects of climate change and serving as an early warning that without human intervention, things will only get worse.”
Lovas is a Dallas-based photographer and visual artist whose elected solo exhibitions have appeared at Lawndale Art Center, Galveston Art Center, Women and Their Work and Liliana Bloch Gallery here in Dallas, to name a few.
She has been a resident artist at Project Row Houses in Houston and the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida. Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions throughout Texas. Her work is represented by Liliana Bloch Gallery.
Terrain Dallas is located at 1122 Elmdale, open every day during daylight hours and for special exhibitions.
