Artwork by northwest Iowa artist Lissa Lane-Johnson is on display in Northwestern College’s Te Paske Gallery through Feb. 29.
“Bridging Reality” features acrylic paintings that move from realism to the abstract, usually incorporating elements of both. Likewise, her graphic drawings “embrace the absurd,” she says, “using elements of realism to illustrate a strange sort of parallel universe.”
Lane-Johnson has a home studio on the Johnson Family Century Farm near Hospers. She shows her work at the Blue Monkey Gallery in Archer and also helps operate the cooperative gallery, which is housed in a historic former bank building. Her artwork is also in private collections in locations that range from Norway, New York and Florida to Nebraska and Iowa.
An art major and graduate of Northwestern College, Lane-Johnson has worked as a musician, dance teacher, graphic designer, writer, theatre director and paraeducator. She has also designed theatre sets and costumes, and she currently teaches art classes as an adjunct instructor for Northwest Iowa Community College.
Northwestern’s Te Paske Gallery is located in the Thea G. Korver Visual Arts Center, on Highway 10 at 214 8th Street SW in Orange City. Gallery hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.