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Ouachita hosts guest artist Laura Brainard Raborn’s exhibit “Processing” through Sept. 27

September 17, 2019 - Madison Cresswell

Ouachita Baptist University’s Rosemary Adams Department of Art and Design is hosting the mixed media work of guest artist Laura Brainard Raborn in an exhibit through Friday, Sept. 27. Raborn’s exhibit, “Processing,” will be on display in the Rosemary Gossett Adams Gallery on the first floor of Moses-Provine Hall. It is free and open to the public

Raborn is a mixed media artist based in Little Rock, Ark. She has been featured in more than 40 regional and national exhibitions, both group and solo, and multiple publications. Raborn’s work is included in several collections, including The Bill and Hillary Clinton Private Collection, Jackye and Curtis Finch International Self-Portrait Collection, Arkansas Children’s Hospital Collection and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Permanent Collection.

"It is fascinating to see how artists work and where they pull inspiration from,” said Carey Roberson, associate professor of Art and Design at Ouachita. “Laura is so well versed in contemporary art and especially work that is intended to spark conversation.”

“Laura’s work makes us, as viewers, really look at today’s issues through the lenses of others,” he added. “Her work in ‘Process’ is so varied, yet so connected, in how it requires us to step back and really think and talk about today’s political and social issues."

“Processing” was produced through Raborn’s experimentation and a creative process that organically formed ideas and concepts, rather than Raborn having a specific plan before entering the studio. The series has mixed media abstractions, clustered and displayed by loose themes, that represent how the power of creating helps form opinions and ideas.

“The physicality of the process pushes me to constantly produce branches within this body of work because any topic can be examined, deconstructed, questioned and reconstructed through the relentless use of materials and layering,” Raborn said.

“Through cutting, sanding, collaging, drawing, painting, stenciling, printmaking and the use of photography and text, I am able to shift the way I see things,” she added. “The act of creating exposes my own visceral response to contemporary issues while prompting me to question my responses.”

Raborn holds a Bachelor of Arts in English, with a double minor in Spanish and studio art, from Rollins College in Orlando, Fla., and a Master of Arts in studio art, with an emphasis in painting, from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Rosemary Gossett Adams Gallery hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, and admission is free. For more information, contact Carey Roberson at [email protected] or (501) 245-4655.