A stitched-up cat, a broken crystal and a trash-filled bed were the focal points of the three photographs Thompson Bain selected for the art exhibit.
The connection? Home.
On Feb. 7, a group of art students from the University of Oregon College of Design celebrated the closing ceremony for their exhibit, “Drywall,” which was on display at the LaVerne Krause Gallery in Lawrence Hall. The gallery features different exhibits every week of each term made up from works of different groups of art students.
According to Bain, the name “Drywall” was chosen because the group of artists wanted to explore “the coming together of a space and what the definition is of a home.” The final works that were shown in the exhibit were a result of the collaborative process between the artists. They built on each other’s definition of a home to create the final products that went up.
For Bain, a current UO senior, the exhibit was an opportunity to delve into the idealization of a home. The three photographs he chose were three examples of the imperfections that people tend to hide.
“People have stuff they’re not proud of in the home,” he said. “It’s not always peachy keen.”
The magic of photography, for Bain, is the ability to capture a moment in time and revisit it every time you look at the picture. The trick is capturing a moment that can spark something inside the people seeing it, which is what the exhibit attempted to do.
One of the images Bain selected for the exhibit was taken by his grandfather who was a hobby photographer.
Growing up, the two weren’t particularly close — they didn’t get to see each other often and Bain was too young. Bain didn’t get seriously involved with photography until shortly before his grandfather’s passing. But afterwards, Bain inherited most of his photography and equipment — including the stitched-up cat he included in the exhibit.
“I always knew him as ‘Oh, he has those big fancy cameras because he’d always take pictures of us,” he said. “It’s just funny now because now his camera is sitting up on my shelf.”
Going through the things he inherited, Bain has formed a “crazy connection” with his grandfather that he didn’t have before. Now, Bain has started incorporating his grandfather’s art into his own.
“Going through [my grandfather’s gear] and finding things was like a treasure hunt,” Bain said. “It’s hard to put it into words.”
