Dream State

The tranquil artwork exhibit, “Lauren Woods: Dream State,” is on display through Friday, Dec. 10, in the Charles W. Lamar Studio Gallery, housed in the Anna Lamar Switzer Center for Visual Arts, on Pensacola State College’s Pensacola campus. A multi-faceted artist, Woods’s “Dream State” exhibit combines fabricated and observed reality with mutable narratives – much like what happens during a dream. The imagery and themes explored in these works include a woman as an archetypal hunter in control of her destiny and world, envisioned environments inspired by the atmosphere of the theater where nature and magic can coexist, and a reclining male nude seen through the feminine gaze and experience. Woods, a Mobile, Alabama, native, will hold an Artist Lecture at 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26, in the Anna Lamar Switzer Center for Visual Arts Room 1513 in Building 15. A dual reception of “Dream State” and the College’s Art Faculty Exhibition also is set for 5-7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Switzer Gallery and Lamar Studio. The Art Faculty Exhibition runs through Friday, Nov. 12. PSC faculty members participating in the event include Micah Cain, Anna Cavnar, Todd Duren, Mark Francis, Mark Hopkins, Julie McGrath, Jason Pinckard, Alaina Plowdrey, Kristen Regan, Jimmy Rhea and Christopher White. The Artist Lecture, dual reception and exhibitions are free and open to the public. Woods earned a Master of Fine Arts in painting from the New York Academy of Art. She completed her bachelor’s degree in studio art at Spring Hill College. Currently, she is an assistant professor of art at Auburn University, where she teaches figure drawing and painting. Her works have been exhibited at the Huntsville Museum of Art, the Mobile Museum of Art, the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art, and the Gadsden Museum of Art and nationally in galleries across the United States. Woods most recent projects are focused on combining her experience as a former ballet dancer with her current painting practice. She is presently collaborating with choreographers and musicians to develop immersive art experiences. The Anna Lamar Switzer Center for Visual Arts hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday. Tours are available with prior arrangements. For more information about the events, call 850-484-2550. Photos: Lauren Woods.jpg and Mythic Nature.jpg