Rise: New Works By Paula Lincoln And Olivia Lahs-Gonzales

Part a series of yearlong exhibitions at the Gallery at The Kranzberg centered around the overarching theme of “Chaos” and how, in a world seemingly out of control, the human spirit is profoundly sparked and aroused to defiance and hope, the exhibition pairs the work of St. Louis-based artists Paula Lincoln and Olivia Lahs-Gonzales, whose works investigate nature and its terrible beauty, provoking metaphors about our own human existence. 

Paula Lincoln’s installations, which suggest swarms, infestations and overgrowth, show nature taking back what we have tried to control. She explains: “It seems that nature is tired of our destructive ways and is now trying to get rid of us through fires, floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. It doesn’t seem so far- fetched to imagine hordes of ants coming in to take over like a scene from a horror movie. Alfred Hitchcock’ “The Birds” is my ideal representation of nature’s revenge. I’d like to produce the same effect, but with insects and plants in sculpture.”

Olivia Lahs-Gonzales creates mixed media drawings, some large scale, that suggest organic forms and aberrant natural growth, which she pairs with photographs that speak to the beauty and chaos of nature. “Much of my work has centered on the investigation of our dichotomous relationship with nature. In the photographs, I use limited depth of field and selective focus to evoke the small and often terrible dramas that that occur beneath our feet and just outside our scope of vision. The drawings further abstract these ideas to evoke the emotions and feelings of nature’s mystery and the discomfort that it can sometimes provoke.”

Collectively, the exhibit is about the power of nature, the beauty of its terrible chaos, and its resilience in the face of human intervention.

About the Artists

Olivia Lahs-Gonzales was director of the Sheldon Art Galleries from 2001 – 2019.  From 1992-2001, she worked as a curator at The Saint Louis Art Museum—in her final year as Assistant Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs. She received her M.F.A. from Columbia College, Chicago, where she worked at the Museum of Contemporary Photography as Curatorial Assistant and Education Manager. Lahs-Gonzales has taught the history of photography at the University of Missouri, St. Louis, where she was Adjunct Assistant Professor. She received her B.A. Honors from West Surrey College of Art and Design, Farnham, Surrey, England and has exhibited her photographs and drawings in Chicago, London, Taipei Tokyo and in St. Louis.

Paula Lincoln is from Cahokia, Illinois and Grassy in rural Southeast Missouri. She received her MFA in sculpture from Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York in 1999, and her BFA in fiber art from the University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky in 1995. Her work has been exhibited in group shows around the country, including Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation, Watkinsville, Georgia; Southeast Missouri Council of Arts, Cape Girardeau, Missouri; The Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, Missouri; Quincy Art Center, Quincy, Illinois; Eliot Smith Contemporary Art Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri; The Sheldon Art Galleries, St. Louis, Missouri; Barnhart Gallery, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky; collaborative installation, Schaffer Gallery, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York and Pro Art Gallery, Lexington, Kentucky