By Barbara Johnson Ross, Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art The desire to repurpose materials led Terry Tjader from Petal, Mississippi to create an entire collection of sculptures and vessels, many turned from the wood of trees damaged in Hurricane Katrina. Through his woodworking, he has been able to create something new and beautiful from the immense destruction left behind by the storm and from other historical trees in the Gulf South area. Tjader begins by selecting harvested timber and looks for characteristics in the tree and its structure that he thinks will have inherent beauty or significant interest.

Cedar Hollow Form, 2011Wood salvaged from Hurricane Katrina15 1/2″ x 12″Collection of the artist

Katalox Hollow Form, 2006Katalox burl salvaged from Belize13 1/2″ x 7″Collection of the artist

Funded in part by the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency

Dusti Bongé: Revisting the Legacy IP Casino Resort Spa Exhibitions Gallery Through June 8, 2013 Eunice Lyle (“Dusti”) Swetman Bongé (1903-1993), was Mississippi’s first significant modernist painter, active from the 1930s to the early 1990s. Throughout her painting career she lived and worked in Biloxi, Mississippi. Her work was represented by Betty Parsons for more than 35 years in New York, first at the Mortimer Brandt Gallery and then the Betty Parsons Gallery.  Bongé and was a contemporary of Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman.  The exhibition will recognize Bongé for her innovative and ground-breaking paintings.

Big Red, 1987Oil on canvas50” x 78”Collection of the Dusti Bongé Art Foundation

Self Portrait, c. 1939Oil crayon on paper11 1/2” x 8 1/2”Collection of the Dusti Bongé Art Foundation

Funded by IP Casino Resort Spa and R&B Feder Charitable Foundation for the Beaux-Arts

Lydia Thompson: Roots, Connections and Pathways Beau Rivage Resort & Casino Gallery / Gallery of African American Art Through June 1, 2013

Sculptor Lydia Thompson is the Department Head and Associate Professor in the Department of Art at Mississippi State University.  Her ceramics have been included in collections, galleries, art centers and museums around the world.  The paradox of the cotton boll’s attractiveness as a natural form and its repugnance as a symbol of a history of exploitation inspired Thompson to create a series of diverse works in various media. Roots, Connections and Pathways represents an examination of space and place that create organic formations.  These images are also reminders of the physical process of reduction made by nature, animal and human beings that create pathways and define migration patterns.  The repetition and collection of objects provide meaning and insight to the interpretation of objects and human practices.  Agricultural objects in Thompson’s work speak subtly to the notion of valued commodities, which also determine insights to one’s cultural traditions.

Detail of Bloodlines, 2009Ceramic6’ x 5’ x 8”Collection of the artist

Return 360 Nesting, 2012Stoneware, porecelain, wood and metal22”x 25” x 14”Collection of the artist