Life is filled with those “in between” times, transitions not yet complete.
That sense of metamorphosis is one Everett Community College instructor Gregory Kammer explores in his exhibit “Between Seasons.”
“It’s a carefully chosen title,” he tells members of a class who stopped by the college’s gallery to see the exhibit.
It has to do with physical time between seasons, when it’s neither winter nor spring, nor summer, nor fall, “which for me is a nice description of the weather around here,” Kammer said.
“It doesn’t feel right. Your emotions are off. But I’m fascinated with that troublesome time. That’s when dynamics are happening. It’s just the right time to find new things about the world around you.”
The exhibit includes some oil paintings with familiar scenes of Whidbey Island (“Between Summer and Fall”) and the Skagit Valley (“Skagit Valley Overlook.”) Some are illuminated with the distinctive light of Eastern Washington.
The exhibit also includes plaster of Paris carvings and semi-abstract metal sculptures.
One such piece is called “Getting to Bethlehem,” a stylistic interpretation of the biblical Mary and Joseph on their journey to Bethlehem.
He hopes to replicate this and create other sculptures someday on a larger scale.
“I’m looking for a company that wants a larger piece,” he said. “The hardest part is convincing people you’re really serious.”
One of his large stainless steel mobiles, “Soaring to Success!” created in conjunction with the college’s Advanced Manufacturing Training & Education Center, was installed in Shuksan Hall in 2017. “That’s a kind of legacy piece to the college,” said Jeanne Leader, dean of the EvCC’s Arts & Learning Resources program.
Although Kammer has been director of the college’s Russell Day Gallery for 11 years, he was somewhat tentative about an exhibit of his own work, she said.
His gallery show displays the breadth of his talents, with his use of different styles and media, she said.
“Diverse; ‘eclectic’ would be another word,” evident in the show’s sculptures, mobiles and paintings, Leader said.
“There’s something to relate to for everyone,” she said. “Maybe you don’t care for paintings, but are interested in the playfulness of the sculptures. He’s always surprising me.”
Kammer came to the college in 1988 and created its graphic and interactive web design programs. “Greg is the program,” Leader said of his contributions.
As gallery director, he broadened the variety of exhibits there, she said.
Kammer plans to retire in June. Miles Labitzke, a member of the art department faculty, has been named as incoming gallery director.
Sharon Salyer: 245-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
If you go
“Between Seasons,” featuring the artwork of Gregory Kammer, an Everett Community College instructor of visual communications design, is on display at the college’s Russell Day Gallery from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday. The gallery is in the student union building. Call 425-388-9036 or go to www.everettcc.edu/gallery for more information.
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