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Rosewood highlights work from two Ohio artists

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By Pamela Dillon, Contributing Writer 4:49 PM Friday, August 14, 2009

The two artists come from different regions of Ohio, and bring their distinct impressions on various life journeys with them. The current Rosewood Gallery show includes Debra Davis of Toledo showing photography and a thought-provoking installation and Linda Langhorst of Columbus presenting her traditional oil paintings.

They both left previous vocations to return to their passion — creating art.

Davis studied and worked in the field of Instructional Technology before obtaining her MFA in photography at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Her macro images of nature, sometimes taken from a low perspective, are wonderful, but the star of the show is her inkjet print, wood, and found object installation, “Precarious Happenstance.” She used images of bare feet to anchor a rope ladder at opposite ends of the space that culminates in a high shelf holding a pair of shoes.

“Davis brings you on a roller coaster ride starting low on the wall with photographs of flowers from an ant’s point of view, then up to the top of the gallery ceiling with a ladder installation that divides, yet unites the gallery space,” said Anderson.

Davis has won an “Art Innovations Grant” from the Ohio Arts Council, and grants from the Ohio Humanities Council and the University Research Activities Fellowship.

She is currently an associate professor at Toledo University.

Langhorst has an MS in agriculture from the Ohio State University, and one of her works, “Sousaphones and Confetti,” appears to be a nod to her alma mater. Riotous in color, it captures the excitement of game time. Her painting, “The Door,” seems as precarious as Davis’s rope ladder. Inaccessibly high on a brick wall, it once led to a bulldozed building. She’s adept at bringing the beauty of city life and natural scenery to the canvas.

“With Langhorst as your tour guide, you will visit sites ranging from Columbus, out to the wilderness of the west, then down to New Orleans,” said gallery coordinator Amy Anderson. “While on this journey, she will introduce you to the characters, like the street dancers of New Orleans, or show you the beauty in locations, like a construction site with her energetic mark making.”

Langhorst, who explains that her “images are often about people, but almost always about human and environmental connections,” was a co-organizer of “The Beyond Bricks and Mortar Exhibit” at the URSUS Gallery in Upper Arlington. She’s shown her works at the Columbus Museum of Art and The Michael Orr Gallery in Grandview, Ohio, among others.

Contact contributing arts writer Pamela Dillon at pamdillon@woh.rr.com.