This summer, we are asking museums and galleries to select a piece on display and provide us with a closer look.
This week, we visit Tucson International Airport, to look at “Over Easy,” a painting created by Tucson-based artist Ellen Campbell.
The work is part of Campbell’s “Emerge” series, which is one of two exhibits newly on display in the Link Gallery, on the ground level of the airport’s passenger terminal.
The other is Brad Nuorala’s “Another Point of View” series.
Both run through Oct. 31.
Artist: Tucson-based artist Campbell received her Master of Fine Arts degree in ceramics from the California College of the Arts where she studied with sculptor Viola Frey.
Campbell’s work has primarily dealt in cast bronze and combined materials on paper, but she has recently returned to clay, according to her website. Her pieces have been shown in galleries from San Diego to New York.
This is the second solo show Campbell has had at the Tucson International Airport.
The work: “Over Easy,” a mixed media painting on board, 30 inches by 22 inches.
What makes this piece significant: In Campbell’s artist statement on her website she writes, “My two-dimensional pieces combine acrylic and latex paint on paper. I begin, of course, with circles. The shape of a single sphere is traced onto a page or scratched into wet paint. And then more circles are added, one after another.
“As shapes intersect and overlap, the composition gets somewhat chaotic. Eventually, from this web of intertwining spheres, new forms emerge. I tease them to the surface and give them room to breathe. These shapes hold my interest; they amuse me, inspire me and open me to a sense of connection to that which is boundless and absolute.”
Campbell said in a phone interview on Monday that she likes working in abstracts because it allows each person to interpret a piece like “Over Easy” differently.
“It lets the audience step out of the business of the day and take a pause,” she said. “It works at the airport especially, where people are stressed from travel. It takes them to a relaxed place internally.”
What demands a closer look: Because of her background in ceramics, Campbell’s paintings, including “Over Easy,” tend to have more textured surfaces.
“When I’m making the pieces, there is a lot of layering,” she said. “I scratch into the paper and more depth is added.”
Where to see it: Tucson International Airport Link Gallery, 7250 S. Tucson Blvd. Open 24 hours a day, Mondays-Sundays. Free admission, but pay parking. flytucson.com/services/art/.
Who provided the information: Campbell’s website, ellencampbellart.com, Viki Matthews of Tucson International Airport and Campbell directly.
