Westobou, an art gallery in downtown Augusta, opened up its new season of curated works with the premier of an art show by Nashville-based sculptor Alex Lockwood, a collection that the gallery’s director Matt Porter called a combination of “fantasy situations and bleak realities.”
The current body of work, “Space is Here and You Are Looking At It,” will remain on display until Oct. 19.
An artistic perspective on plastic waste
Lockwood’s work is almost entirely composed of vibrantly hued sculptures made from found plastic materials. The artist said that his pieces serve as a primary-colored commentary on plastic overconsumption and ocean pollution.
One of his sculptural pieces featured a colorful man made of plastic sinking into a puddle of more plastic, aptly named Swimmer in the Trash Vortex.
“Plastics have been interesting to me because I’m drawing from a problematic material,” said Lockwood.
Complex relationships and gun violence
However, the exhibit goes beyond themes of waste.
Lockwood said its title, “Space is Here and You Are Looking At It,” was written by one of his young sons on a piece of intergalactic artwork. This message stuck with Lockwood, and many pieces in the collection are bound together by motifs of parenthood, specifically through the lens of divorce and the challenges of stepping in and out of the role of guardian on alternating weeks.
Several art pieces, both sculpted and hand-drawn, represent images of calendars as a demonstration of custody days.
Although understated compared to the majority of the exhibit’s larger-than-life pieces, a bouquet of flowers and a set of jump ropes both made out of the shell casings from assault rifles acted as outcries against the critical threat of gun violence.
“I’ve been worried about guns, about gun violence most of my life now. I have a 10 and a 12 year old…the conflation of schools and guns is horrifying,” said Lockwood.
Community Reception
One Augusta native, Tricia Hughes, stopped by to see the collection and to meet Lockwood.
Hughes believes that the key to bolstering the community lies in access to exhibits like these. “I think the arts are a gateway to a very vibrant downtown,” she said. “I love downtown. I love being down here, and Westobou is just a shining star.”
Porter said the aim of the gallery is to keep contemporary art in the public eye. Anytime someone is downtown, he said, “it is worth stopping in to see if something new is up.”
Westobou’s Season Schedule
SEEDS X | Nov. 1 – Dec. 21
Inside Joke by Dylan Smeak | Feb. 7 – April 5, 2025
Euclidean City by Khara Woods | April 4 – May 24, 2025
THE END: First Five Years | June 6 – Aug. 2, 2025
Westobou Marquee Exhibition | Sept. 5 – Oct. 25, 2025 SEEDS XI | Nov. 7 – Dec. 20, 2025
