'Images and Visions of the Bootheel'

Katherine Ellinger Smith lives in Jackson, Mo., but is a native Minnesotan. The assistant professor of art at Southeast Missouri State University still looks at Southeast Missouri and the Bootheel with the eyes of an outsider. Over the past eight years, she has compiled a visual portrait of the history, stories and personalities she has encountered in her adopted home.

That portrait emerges in "Images and Vision of the Bootheel," an exhibition by Smith opening today at Gallery 100.

The work of another Jackson artist is spotlighted in the Lorimier Gallery this month. Travis Perr's exhibit is titled "Old, New and Used: A Collection of Old Paintings, New Paintings, and Used Furniture."

A reception for both artists will be held from 5-8 today at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, 119 Independence St.

"Beauty of the Bootheel," seen on this page, illustrates Smith's approach to making a portrait of Southeast Missouri. The woman's face has the eyes of someone from a different race. That mixture of races represents the mixture in Southeast Missouri.

The photo montage includes images of a deer, an armadillo, Spanish moss, baby birds, a derby hat, and the face of a forlorn child, all representing something of the culture Smith has encountered in Southeast Missouri.

"It has such a fascinating history to it," she says. "... I love the environment, getting out into the cypress swamps, things I'm not used to. I began to see how much a part of that the people were."

Some of Smith's works in the exhibit are photo montages that are composites of images she has gleaned from her own photographs or pictures taken from magazines. Some are paintings on mylar, a material like a polyester vellum that gives her the freedom to cut images up into a collage.

Some pieces in the show previously were shown at Veridian@Chelsea, the contemporary coop art gallery Smith is a member of in New York City. She is one of about 30 artists involved in the gallery, the second oldest coop organization of its kind in New York City.

None of the artists who belong have prestigious positions or are well-known in the art world, but all have been juried in as members.

The New York art world is flaky, Smith says and a difficult place to make connections if you live in the Midwest. Still, an involvement there keeps her from feeling isolated.

"I feel the need to have this world and that world to survive," Smith says. "New York still is the center of the art world. The money is there. It's not a fair thing. It's just that way."

Her work is a very personal view of the region, Smith says, not an accurate portrayal.

"I don't mean to say I'm an archivist. I have taken a great deal of liberty with it," she says.

"I hope I have taken the essence that can't be written about, that can only be shown visually."

Perr, a Jackson native and graduate of Southeast, began making abstract paintings as a ninth grade student under Jackson artist and teacher Herb Wickham.

Now he works mostly on wood.

"I look through people's unwanted junk to find something to do abstract paintings on," he says.

Four coffee tables are in the exhibit. "I used things that people didn't want anymore," Perr said.

A plain piece of furniture like a coffee table can become something else when the glass on top frames a painting, Perr said.

The coffee tables will be among 20 Perr works in the show.

This will be Perr's first solo show. He has won a number of juror's awards at past Arts Council contests.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182