this is light

Tommy Bobo, Lisa Dillin, Pamela Gwaltney, Esther Ruiz

September 18-November 25, 2015

The exhibition this is light presents the work of four east coast artists whose work explores the use of light. In our present world, light is nearly inescapable; be it the ambient glow of a smart phone or the vibrating neon of a commercial sign. Tommy Bobo, Lisa Dillin, Pamela Gwaltney deliver light to the eye through video, neon, and LED’s, challenging our notions of perception. Here, light is physical. We see light as object.

Tommy Bobo’s video, Umbra, strives to make light tangible. The subject chews bubblegum in front a slide projector. As each bubble forms and diffuses the light from the projector, the slide changes and the bubble seems to momentarily contain the light before popping. 

The free standing sculptures of Esther Ruiz seem to transport the viewer to a the landscape of a tiny planet, warmed by fluorescent arches. This sculptural environment can also be found in the work of Pam Gwaltney, whose glowing column lights the way, as a sort of otherworldly lamp post. These works create an atmosphere whose ultimate goal is to give us pause, in contemplating our world as it is.

Lisa Dillin’s wry conjurings of every day objects manifested in light and sometimes in literal reflections of the self, encourage us to ponder the absurdity of human psychology in contemporary commercial constructs.