Bob Lucas / Suzanne Haddon
sculptures | collages | paintings
Bob Lucas is known for his concrete and steel sculptures as well as clever,
introspective fused glass paintings. His "yard art" and other works
are seen all over Puget Sound and have been exhibited at the Seattle
Art Museum, Watcom County Museum, the Olympia Art Museum, the Frye
Art Museum and at the Boise Art Museum. Lucas recently concluded
a three year participation in the Arts in Embassies program of the
U.S. Department of State.
Suzzane Haddon has shown her vivid watercolors
of fantastical animals and female nudes in the Seattle area for almost
ten years. Her original fine art as well as her design work for
companies like Hornall-Anderson, Nordstrom and Starbucks has
earned her numerous awards and commissions. This year one of Suzanne's
nudes made it onto a K2 snowboard!
Together, for the past four years, they have collaborated on an
enthusiastically received series of "Goddess" exhibitions produced
by Jeffrey Moose at his gallery and at other venues. This year marks
a bit of a change in the title, but perhaps not so much in content.
This year's show is truly a display of work by two fine artists whose
efforts both compliment and push each other. Not an effort to outdo
one another, but a mutual encouragement to push the boundaries they
each set for themselves. Ms. Haddon's travels last year took her
to Asia. The work produced from this experience came out in Sumi Ink
on paper with collaged elements of Buddhist prayer money and hand made
Asian paper. This year, the experience was a European voyage which
included visits to churches and ancient places throughout the continent.
The collages have grown more complex, more multilayered; now,
groups of female figures, rendered in Sumi ink, appear juxtaposed with
scraps of newspaper and religious imagery. The incongruity of some of
these relationships reflects elements of work by Mr. Lucas and other
contemporary artists who relish the curiosity of incongruous juxtaposition.
Above all, these images reflect a journey of introspection.
Mr. Lucas has re-entered the world of steel sculpture after a hiatus
of some years. The work he has produced for this show is large: steel
radio tower shapes, composed of re-bar, which measure six to eight
feet high, topped with kinetic elements such as mobiles and what the
artist describes as "whirligigs." Lucas describes these sculptures
as "energy receiving devices" or "lightening rods." They sit atop
specially constructed round steel tables. Lucas will also show a group
of miniature versions of these works as well as a group of abstract
"paintings," composed of torched re-bar and sketches for the towers.
Could these structures reflect Mr. Lucas' long obsession with the
female icon? Come and decide for yourself.
