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Bluefield College will host an art show featuring the “Reflections” of artist Alli Forlines, December 7 through February 21 in the school’s Art Gallery in Lansdell Hall.

Chris Shoemaker

November 30, 2012

Open and free to the public, the show will be on display from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Weekend hours may be obtained by calling the BC Art Department at 276-326-4558 or by e-mailing the BC Office of Public Relations at .

Forlines’ most recent work centers around reflections, a theme she began to incorporate into her art during the latter part of her undergraduate studies at Marshall University. In addition to feeding her fascination for reflections, the pieces, she said, capture the beauty and mystery of reproduced images.

“The fascinating thing about reflections is that the images can be timeless, but also physically presented before you for such a short period of time,” said Forlines about the pieces she’ll display at Bluefield College. “By capturing these images and reinterpreting them for the viewer, I can distort the laws of science and allow the viewer more time with an image that is normally fleeting.”

Designed to help viewers understand reflections and why certain objects create certain colors and shapes, Forlines’ work attempts to interest viewers not only on an aesthetic level, but also a psychological level.

“When light is reflected through something, it creates beautiful shapes and colors that aren’t normally seen around the reflective object,” said Forlines. “This makes the reflection interesting or attention grabbing.”

The word “reflections,” she added, is often defined as “the throwing back of light heat or sound without absorbing it,” as depicted in Forlines’ work. However, it can also be defined as “serous thought or consideration” or “thinking about something.”

“These two definitions seem inescapably tied together, as seen in the longstanding tradition of including reflecting pools at places of importance,” said Forlines. “These pools are placed at memorials and monuments, as well as in meditation gardens, with the purpose of giving the viewer an opportunity to meditate and think about where they are or what they are doing.”

Art enthusiasts and other friends are invited to stop by Forlines’ “reflecting pool” at Bluefield College to view her pieces and to consider the beauty and mystery of reflections, December 7 through February 21.

“My work does not point the viewer in any direction as to what to reflect on -- that is up to the viewer,” said Forlines, “but my work is large enough to give the viewer details to look at and strange shapes to make sense of while they examine and consider wherever their own mind goes.”

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