LAKE JACKSON – Brazosport College is pleased to welcome the art of Nancy Kern to the BC Art Gallery from Sept. 26 through Oct. 27.

Kern’s works have won numerous awards, including citations from Houston’s Lawndale Art and Performance Center and the Contemporary Arts Museum.

Her Brazosport College show, “Regeneration,” is based on a hiking trip in Hawaii, in which she witnessed a desolate wasteland of hardened lava created by a volcanic eruption a few years earlier. During this hike, there were no insects or birds and the sun glared off the lifeless, black ground, giving it the appearance of the end of the world. In her words, it seemed as if ‘the Garden of Eden had been ravaged.”
           
At the same time, she saw tiny signs of life, as small ferns were peeking through the cracks. The rainforest was reclaiming the lava field and the regeneration of the earth was beginning anew.
           
That experience became the theme of her exhibition that will be on display at the BC Art Gallery.
           
“In contemporary times, themes of destruction loom large,” Kern said. “We need reminders that life regenerates between the cracks. What I noticed on the trek planted the seeds for this show.”
           
When creating these works of art, Kern chose to work mostly with charcoal. This was a well thought-out decision.
           
“My art is process oriented; the materials and the way I work shape the content and subject matter,” she said. “For ‘Regeneration,’ I felt compelled to work in charcoal. Wood is burned, transformed by fire to make charcoal. Marked by fire, charcoal has an affinity for ashes. Ashes are new ground for regeneration. The drawings required muscular force, grinding and smearing black charcoal into heavy white paper to make large, bold gestures, express contrast, impulse and destruction.”
           
Kern also believes that charcoal is an apt medium to express the journey to regeneration. Through Kern’s beautiful abstract imagery she illustrates how life is created and rejuvenated out of devastation.
           
“Abstract imagery is the most direct way to convey the essence of things,” Kern said. “Stripped of literal representation, my images reference regeneration in nature and the human heart. My hope is that those who see my work will feel a link between seeds in plants and seeds of awareness. The paintings in this show refer to the reemergence of life, the rainforest that reclaims the lava field.”
           
The Brazosport College Art Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. to noon on Friday. The gallery is located in the B Wing in the main campus building. For more information, call (979) 230-3000.