The Arts + Literature Laboratory held an opening reception for three new exhibits Friday, April 4. The exhibits, each created by a different artist, explore a variety of mediums and are on view until April 12.
Located on Livingston Street, the Arts + Literature Laboratory is a community-based space focused on art education and displays of contemporary artwork. Admission to visit any of the Laboratory’s galleries is free, and the facility’s resources are open to all community members.
Artist Paulina King held a special artist talk during the exhibit’s opening reception. A master of fine arts student at the University of Wisconsin, King discussed the inspiration behind her thesis and exhibition, “All the while, the earth was humming.”
For King, inspiration stems from a love of both science and art. The crossroads between these disciplines comes through in her exhibition. The installation, which consists of snaking sculptures affixed to the gallery wall, twists and moves in accordance with Madison’s weather, King said.
“Every single piece I create starts with me being somewhere outside in the natural world,” King said. “It leads me on this whole spiral of thinking of ways to highlight nature, to recapture it and to translate it to my audience.”
King was inspired by seeing the moving forms of her backyard on a windy day. To capture this natural movement, the acrylic installation flutters and spins per a wind sensor placed in UW’s arboretum. King also placed a counterpart sculpture in the arboretum, meant to capture rainwater and create reflection pools to strengthen the installation’s connection to the natural world.
King is a 2025 recipient of the Arts + Literature Laboratory Prize, which is awarded to one or two graduating MFA candidates. The award includes a $1000 stipend for exhibition expenses. King used the award and her engineering background to explore the intersection of science and art, she said.
“Integrating science into art is a really good way to talk about nature, science and all types of phenomena,” King said.
The reception also celebrated contributions from two other budding artists.
Racine-based artist Vera Scekic was likewise inspired by natural phenomena in her exhibit, “Recombination.” The title references the biological process whereby genetic material combines to form DNA. In her work, Scekic mirrors this process through layering, peeling and sanding the paint on her canvases.
Sally Hutchinson, the third artist celebrated at the Arts + Literature Laboratory reception, further explores the relationship between natural phenomena and art. In “Continuum,” Hutchinson depicts a unique series of imagery through paintings ranging from architecture and historical events to images of meteorological phenomena. Building on this inspiration, Hutchinson further experiments with a unique partnership of geometric principles and collage.
In the Vernacular: People, Places and Things, an exhibit by Madison artist Hannah O’Hare Bennett installed earlier this winter, will also remain at the Arts + Literature Lab until April 12. Inspired by a trip with the Peace Corps to a small village in Ecuador, Bennett’s exhibition features her own mixed-media works as well as Ecuadorian artisan crafts.
The Arts + Literature Lab galleries are open every Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. The exhhibitions from King, Scekic, Hutchinson and Bennett are open to the public until April 12.
