(Above: Maddison Colvin’s recent art involves scanning plants found in her own yard and turning them into stunning images; photos by Randi Bjornstad)

By Randi Bjornstad

Two local artists who recently have taken their talents in widely different directions are showing their work together in a nonetheless harmonious exhibit that goes by the enigmatic title, “Dead Loss.”

Below the title on the artists’ statement that accompanies the show is the equally enigmatic definition of dead loss, “noun: a venture or situation that produces no profit whatsoever; a person or thing that is completely useless.”

In the case of the artwork now on display at the Slightly Coffee, the term appears to apply to the methods by which Lillian Almeida and Maddison Colvin have created their pieces, but as art goes, the results are anything but “completely useless.” As for the profit issue, doing art for art’s sake is noble, but no one should be surprised if someone offers money for these pieces.

Eugene Contemporary Art co-founder Courtney Stubbert, left, and artist Maddison Colvin contemplate the placement of one of her art pieces at Slightly Coffee

The show is sponsored by Eugene Contemporary Art, created in 2011 by Courtney Stubbert and Wesley Hurd and now shepherded by Stubbert and Julia Oldham.

The mission of ECA, according to its website, is “to provide emerging, contemporary artists with opportunities for their work to be seen by the public. We do this through producing our own exhibitions and pop-up shows, as well as highlighting local, contemporary art events we find interesting.”

Stubbert said the original impetus for ECA was to give people more opportunity to acquaint themselves and appreciate true contemporary art.

“We have several really fine, more traditional galleries in this area,” he said, “but there haven’t been a lot of places that put primary emphasis on truly contemporary art — that’s what we wanted to accomplish.”

Artist Lillian Almeida holds one of her creations that is part of a show called “Dead Loss” at Slightly Coffee in Eugene

Almeida, who has known since early childhood that she wanted to be an artist and pursued a higher education in both painting and sculpture, said she recently has become enamored of using paint peelings and other found materials that she can “fold, peel, crush or otherwise play with with my hands” to create graceful freeform sculptures that represent a new kind of artwork rather than just throwing them away.

The meaning of the resulting pieces is not defined but resides in the eye of the beholder, she said.

Almeida’s art has been exhibited widely in Oregon and regionally.

The other half of the “Dead Loss” exhibit features work by Maddison Colvin, which she creates by picking vegetation from her personal garden and preserving it pictorially using a scanner, although sacrificing it as growing things in the process.

In case that all seems strange or even a bit incomprehensible, Almeida and Colvin have created, in conjunction with Oldham, videos of the artistic processes they followed to create the work in “Dead Loss”:

 

Dead Loss: Works by Lillian Almeida and Maddison Colvin

When: Through April 26

Where: Slightly Coffee Roasters Café, 545 E. Eighth Ave., Eugene

Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 am. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Information: 541-653-8527 (Slightly Coffee);

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