LITTLE ROCK — At first glance, one might wonder, why pair the work of Liz Smith, a potter, with that of Katharine Strause, a painter? The two veteran artists have known each other for several years but have never shared an exhibit space until now.
Their work is currently on display in the Trinity Gallery at the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock.
“I have known Kathy for some time,” said Smith, who is an associate professor of fine arts who teaches ceramics and professional-
track classes at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, where Strause grew up. “I believe we were chosen to exhibit together because Donna Uptigrove, deputy director of the Historic Arkansas Museum, is familiar with both of our work and thought one would complement the other.”
Strause agreed.
“The show was put together by Donna Uptigrove, who works at the Historic Arkansas Museum,” said Strause, professor of painting and chairwoman of the art department at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia. “She studied under Liz Smith while studying ceramics at UCA and is also a friend of mine. She thought it was a good pairing.”
Conway native Carey Voss, curator of exhibits at the Arkansas Historic Museum, explains further: “Certainly Liz has been on Donna’s radar for a long time, but we both agreed on the Liz-and-Kathy pairing due to similarities in their ‘more is more’ approach to surface treatment.
“As the exhibit approached and we talked to Liz about her recent work, we found out she has been experimenting with pulling back from intense decoration,” said Voss, the daughter of Ruth Voss of Conway and a 2002 graduate of Hendrix College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in fine art. “Her new work is not exactly spare, but it focuses the viewer’s attention on a few details rather than a profusion of pattern.
“Thus, the title of the exhibit — More or Less: Liz Smith & Katherine Strause.”
Carey Voss said that while Smith’s new work shows some restraint from covering the whole surface of an object, “Strause doesn’t worry much about restraint.”
“Her paintings based on found photographs of women are bursting with exuberance,” Voss said. “Bright colors, swirling patterns and staccato brushwork emphasize content alluding to the possibility of female self-reliance and rebellion against antiquated social norms. Strause’s paintings are extremely energetic, filled with wild hope for the individuals she depicts.”
Voss and Uptigrove, who graduated from UCA in 2006 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in fine art with a focus in ceramics, co-curated the work selection and placement of the current exhibit.
Smith, 46, was born in Old Lyme, Connecticut. She received a Master Fine Arts degree in 2000 from Louisiana State University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Skidmore University in 1994. She is in her 16th year at UCA and will be associate chairwoman of the art department next semester.
“My work is always functional. I make it for people to use,” Smith said.
“The most intriguing aspect of making functional work to me is that it is a medium readily accepted into people’s lives,” she said. “Mine is a commitment to the idea that art is most effective when it is connected to repeated daily experience revealing itself through use over time. This commitment is one that consistently brings me back to the functional object.
“Our contemporary context finds us less and less connected in a physical way to experience and to others. I am compelled to make work that proposes an alternative to this path and highlights the continuing relevance of the handcrafted object. While this is not a new notion, I believe it to be one that is just as, if not more, pertinent today.”
Smith creates her art in a studio at her home in Little Rock, where she lives with her husband, Bill Kopsky, executive director of the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, and their sons, Izzy, 7, and Elliott, 5.
Strause said the paintings she makes “are in honor of women who have been told to sit down and be quiet.” The paintings in her new series, Jump Rope, show women jumping rope.
“Be rebellious, be loud, jump high,” Strause said, laughing. “I remember jumping rope when I was a kid.
“The young women in the paintings are in the throws of pure enjoyment,” said Strause, a daughter of Julia E. Strause of Conway and the late Robert Strause. “They are full of enthusiasm and a wild hope for the future. These young women are bold and brash, strong and reckless, but are in full possession of themselves. They are in charge of the space, their feelings and their actions. They are joyful, exuberant and rebellious.
“My paintings address the ideas of transcendence, hope and transformation,” Katharine Strause said. “They explore courage and strength. They are about women, their work, friendships, struggles, aging and social constraints, all experienced by each generation.”
Strause, 59, is a graduate of St. Joseph High School in Conway. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in visual art from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1988 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville in 1992. She has been at Henderson State University since 2007.
Strause creates her art in the attic studio of the Little Rock home she shares with her husband, David Jukes, a musician and employee at the Central Arkansas Library System.
More or Less: Liz Smith & Katherine Strause will be on display in the Trinity Gallery for Arkansas Artists at the Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St. in Little Rock, through Feb. 3. There is no admission charge. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.
For more information, call (501) 324-9351 or visit the website www.historicarkansas.org.