VAA Gallery features Two Artists

In the Gallery, March showcases art by two artists, Tom Hughes, who creates temporary sculpture with a message, and photographer William Mitchell. Meet and chat with artists, Friday, March 2, 6 p.m., and enjoy live music by Riverbend.

From Buffalo, NY, to Vashon, Tom Hughes started his art exploration in photography and printmaking, but found that words and objects better conveyed his ideas. His Gallery exhibition will illuminate words within recycled cardboard and salvaged plywood sculpture (painted with house paint) on the theme "Where We’ve Been." The installation, according to Hughes, will allude to mischief and collusion.

The sculpture itself suggests reeds and grasses. Columns will run from floor to ceiling and boxes will stand at varying heights. "It’s interactive art in a very concrete way, low-tech; it’s been referred to as a punk-rock aesthetic."

Photographer William Mitchell, an avid outdoorsman, took his first photography class at University of Washington in 1983. He worked full-time for the Department of Transportation, while contracted with a stock photo agency. After retiring in 2003, armed with a large format 4x5 field camera, a medium format roll film and digital camera, Mitchell began shooting full-time.

His current exhibition "Tangles," offers a collection of color photographs that reveal nature through an abstract perspective. Mitchell says he enjoys travel and always keeps a camera close at hand.