Enlightenment of the Ordinary
Enlightenment of the Ordinary
January 3rd, 2020 - January 26th, 2020
I construct light-based sculptures, reliefs and installations using everyday materials with an economy of manipulation. These minimalist works communicate in form, and installation, intriguing perspectives on that capture one’s attention and demand greater exploration, from their details to the shadows they may cast. The physical properties of light bend, push and pull the objects as if we are viewing them in a new dimension. Photons, light, the fundamental essence of reality, is what I am after as an artistic medium. Using found objects, wood, stones, minerals, fabric, springs, magnets, MDF, paint, lights, and other hardware, my works suggest an underlying metaphor of the nature/civilization duality of our basic human experience and our place our world…and the cosmos. Creating light art sculptures and installations is a deeply personal act for me about bringing light into darkness and dimness, literally and figuratively, examining the ephemeral nature of reality.
Stephen Shugart is an artist with broad experience in many art forms working to find a synthesis between realism and imagination-- the magical, spiritual or moments of non-ordinary reality. He has explored this theme in paintings and light constructions, in published works of fiction, as well as produced works for the theater. Stephen grew up in Littleton, CO, and has been a professor at UCD, MSU, CCD, CSU and other institutions of higher learning. Stephen’s artwork has been shown in many front range gallery exhibitions including Redline Denver; Lincoln Center, Fort Collins; Sangre de Christo Arts Center, Pueblo; Pirate, Denver, and he will be included in an international exhibition Art of The Cosmos, in Pasadena, CA this summer. He also is a member of Edge Gallery, a longstanding Denver artist-run alternative art space.