“Collectively, what I’m trying to say is we throw away 2/3 of what we produce because we’re in such a hurry to produce it,” local artist Christopher Lane passionately speaks on his upcoming art exhibition, “I would like to take 1/3 and give it to the people … there shouldn’t be any reason why anybody is hungry in this country. There should be no reason why some kids not getting an education.”
50-year-old, full-time artist, Christopher Lane, relinquishes a collection of work that reflects on the individual and delivers a message that contains the true form of who we are as a whole, as a community: we are one. Lane’s exhibition, “Resist Division,” opening Friday December 7, 2018 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Frame of Mind and lasting through January 28, 2019, expresses the desire to accept one another as one in the same and to reach a point of complete equality rather than the cruel reality that we often face: division.
“I don’t know if it’s because my family is so diverse. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve made every mistake and I need a break sometimes. You know, you can throw Winston Churchill in there, ‘divided we fall,’” the artist describes his ideas behind this collection of work, “So, I think it’s just, we’re better together. We’re all the same, basically.”
Lane is aware that we are separated by aspects such as beliefs, race, and geography; however, through his collection, “Resist Division,” he takes notice that we are separated by our unique individuality but we should not be divided. We all have the same basic rights and we all have needs and desires. The things that separate us should not also divide us.
“ … I went back through Arlington, you know, I went through all the monuments and if you look at all the tombstones it’s like, men and women in there. And it’s every religion, people that don’t believe in religion, gay people, straight people, whatever,” the artist softly laughs as he describes the monuments he saw coming back from a DC trip, “It’s like, they’re all on there and to me, you know, you’re an American.”
Lane studied art at New Mexico University and minored in photography. He began painting as a child, where he found the trade therapeutic.
“I have dyslexia … so, I guess I would paint to kind of escape,” Lane speaks on painting at a young age.
Though he began painting at a young age, this collection shows the passion and desire he has developed to create a world where we decide not to let our physical appearances or personal mentalities separate us. Where we accept the truth, and come together as one.
The artist often paints dreams that he has had, but he gets much of his inspiration from simply watching the news and seeing what’s going on globally. Though he doesn’t always understand it, he studies it and learns from it, until he can create artwork to represent his discovery. Here is what Lane passionately describes when asked about the process of creating this collection:
“… watching this,” Lane eagerly points to the news running on the TV screen, “… everything’s the same basically… I watch this and it’s like the run off and I’ll see something and I don’t understand it, and I’ll dig into it. Normally, my first opinion on something when I first see it and I’m really passionate- I’m completely wrong, you know? And then, if I look at it for a while, then start maybe taking it aside, I realize, ‘well, I understand where they’re coming from and, well, this is what I think,’ and then we talk and then that person goes, ‘well, I didn’t know that was that.’ And when I try to paint, it’s all of that.’ He continues to eagerly express his ideas, “And I don’t know if I’m smart enough to do it … I don’t know if I can change anybody but I can at least speak and send a message, and maybe it will make the other person think.”
As the veteran and current artist describes one of his paintings found in his “Resist Division” exhibition, you can see the fire within him to really send a message and to bring the division that has become our society to one:
“That one was like a year ago and they were kind of questioning what a real American is,” Lane points at a painting hanging on his studio wall, “ ... but I was just like, well, what is that? You know, it’s like, I’m Norwegian. I’m all Norwegian except for Iroquois Indian, and that’s what that painting is. You know, am I good enough for you? Do I qualify? And it just really made me mad.”
Lane’s work isn’t just a lovely painting for you to admire. It is a striking collection of paintings that send a passionate message that not only needs to be heard, but understood. That is Lanes desire with this exhibition: to share his thoughts through his craft, to share the one truth and to bring a divided world together.
“Resist Division,” is an exhibition that all should come together for. It is a collection that will make you think, make you question and make you reflect. Reflect not only on the division of our society, but on the constant rush that we seem to live in. How did things end up this way? How can we resist division?
As best said by Christopher Lane, ask yourself this: “What led us here?”