Artist shares love of photos
By Monique Bhimani
Staff Reporter

Walking past the small artworks in the University Art Gallery, one gets the sense of eavesdropping on the thoughts of 18th and 19th century astronomers. Photography collages show figures of Greek mythology in relation to names of constellations.

The art exhibit, “Mostly Small Things,” by photography instructor and lab coordinator Dick Lane, will be displayed in the art gallery until Thursday. Lane said that, unlike the art in some of his earlier exhibits, these works are considerably smaller.

“Some of the works I did were over six feet-long, and sometimes took up the whole wall space,” Lane said.

Luther Smith, a professor of art, who has seen many of Lane’s other exhibits, said several factors go into Lane’s work.

“(The exhibit) is different from the others in that you have to get close up to the art,” Smith said. “The frames are also a part of the piece. The material itself actually makes a difference.”

Genniffer Williams, a freshman psychology and art major, said this was her first time to see an art exhibit at TCU.

“I went there to see (the exhibit) because I was thinking of making (art) my major,” Williams said. “I thought it was really interesting.”

Lane said one piece he did was dedicated to Joseph Cornell, an American artist who was famous in the ‘30s and ‘40s for his “box” art. Cornell constructed glass-front boxes that contained various prints and objects. Lane said that he came across Cornell’s birth date, which was in December 1903, and decided to make a piece to commemorate his 100th birthday.

“We are influenced and work from threads that continue,” Smith said. “One person might be influenced by some famous person in New York, while someone else might be influenced by someone that lived 100 years ago.”

Smith said he has known Lane since he started working at TCU about 15 years ago. He said he thinks that a medical condition Lane suffered affected his work, as he said anything in life would.

Lane, misdiagnosed with an incurable immune disease and for about two and a half years, he was subjected to many rounds of blood testing and X-rays, according to his Web site (www.dicklanephotography.com). After this time, he said he was correctly diagnosed with appendicitis.

Lane said the impact of his illness was substantial and affected everything in his life. He said he made exactly six pictures in all that time.

“The real questions to consider in life are ‘Why are we here?’ and ‘What does life mean?’,” he said. “Art lets me address those issues.”