Two CWU alumni collaborate on Spokane art exhibit

Two Central Washington University Fine Arts alumni will join forces this month to open a collaborative art exhibit in Spokane.

Kate Lund and Jen Erickson both attended CWU and the University of Montana in different years, earning different degrees, yet found themselves brought together for this exhibit through a shared love of dialogue between art and the natural world.

The exhibit at the Terrain Gallery, titled Back & Forth, explores the myriad ways in which art can forge connections between artists and observers alike through its unique visual language. While Lund’s work draws inspiration from natural forms like insects and flowers, Erickson takes a more abstract approach, drawing through-lines between nature and science, memory and reflection. In Back & Forth, their work finds common ground, and as a result, an expanded emotional impact.

Lund earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from CWU in 2012, then went on to earn her MFA in studio art from the University of Montana. Her artwork begins outside, through found objects and captured images, transformed through observation in her studio. Lund teaches art at Wallace Jr/Sr High School, and as an adjunct faculty member at North Idaho College.

Erickson completed her education in precisely the opposite order, graduating with her bachelor’s degree in painting from the University of Montana, followed by an MFA in painting and drawing from CWU in 2005. She works in printmaking, oil painting, and watercolors, with a focus on transforming abstract ideas into tangible imagery. Erickson is an art professor at North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene.

Back & Forth will be on display at Terrain Gallery in Spokane February 6-28.  An opening reception will be held Friday, February 6, from 5-8 p.m. The gallery at 628 Monroe Street is free and open to the public Thursday-Saturday from 4-7 p.m.