Art Center now featuring photographer, illustrator

The Waseca Art Center held a gallery opening for two artists on Saturday, Feb. 21 and it couldn’t have happened on a sunnier day. Photographer Lauren Jacobson now has works on display in the Harguth Gallery and Mark Braun in the Beckman Gallery. Mikhail Rostislavovich, president of the Waseca Arts Council gave a quick introduction before bringing up the artists to explain their crafts and take questions from the audience.  

 

Lauren Jacobson was introduced first; she was wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt which contrasted her hands and face–a technique she makes use of when photographing herself,  using darker backgrounds in many of the photos. She was asked about a photograph she had taken in a wooded area and where the smoke in the photo came from and she replied, “That isn’t smoke, that is the result of long exposure to my pale hands in the dark passing back and forth in front of the camera. The circular things in a line across the middle of the photo is the result of me dragging a flashlight in front of the lens.” During her presentation she said, “I decided that a single second, which is about what it takes to snap a regular picture, can only capture so much. So, each photo I take is between 15 to 20 seconds of exposure.”

 

Jacobson has a family home in Faribault and that’s where she began her journey using the scientific method to learn photography; she is also a design consultant and art framer. She uses her own body as a subject and raw footage with no digital alteration, “I’m drawn to mysticism and I would like to capture what our eyes can’t see.” She’s been featured at the Paradise Center for the Arts, Flaten Art Museum and a solo installation at St. Olaf.

 

Mark Braun is a professional illustrator who earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Mankato State in 1975. Before retiring in the 2000s, he held jobs at various Mankato area companies including Kato Engineering, Ads and Ink printing company, and Taylor Corporation’s book printing division. It wasn’t until after retiring he returned to his love of illustration. He uses circles as his background; a drawing titled “Adolescent and Confusion” features a young man aged 14 or so, leaning against a wooden fence, dressed in a flannel shirt and his pants have cuffs like the kids wore in the 60s.

 

Braun uses linen or textured paper, and number 2 pencils for his work. He observed, “You can get those pencils anywhere.” Each of his drawings can take 10-15 hours but, said Braun, “I get bored or need to do something else for a while and I come back to it later. My work comes out of everyday occurrences. Some of my work does reflect my approach towards advertising. I’ve always tried to take a message and capture it.” He spoke about Chief Sleepy Eye, a native American Chief who died in the 1860s. “His tribe was starving and he was forced to sell their land. There weren’t a lot of pictures of him because of the time, but the one I did find was just sadness and I wanted to capture that.”

 

After the introductions guests were invited to mingle with the artists and enjoy sweet treats and sparkling cider in the Tea Room.