Review

"Laurie's Chair," Acrylic on Canvas.

Kristin Goering

10 a.m.-7 p.m.

ARTichokes
10557 Mission Road
Leawood, KS
913.322.9481

Hours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday.
Runs through: May 8.

Gallery site: http://www.artichokeskc.com

Think about the things — after people and pets — that you'd go back into a fire to pull out.

Chances are, that list includes valuables of measurable worth. But chances are even better that the "save" list is headed by something which means more to you than any amount of money you could get for it.

To rip off the credit card commercial: Emotion and memory? Priceless.

Kristin Goering, one of the artists now featured at ARTichokes in Leawood, has much of her show given over to still lifes and landscapes. The acrylic paintings are lovely, light-filled works, with several of the still life pieces incorporating items of meaning to the artist.

My paintings are often personal, because I paint what moves me, Goering writes. Consequently subtle, emotional aspects of myself are incorporated in the finished works.

The most moving piece in the show, however — or, at the least, the most intriguing — is a small, one-foot-square painting of a blue chair.

It's a nice-looking chair, accented by a multicolored pillow. Looks to be comfortable, too.

And ... it's someone's chair. Laurie's Chair, by the title. The inanimate takes on personality, and the emotional connection becomes clear.

Chairs are personal things. We have our favorites, even to the point of territoriality, and over time and repeated use those chairs take on the shapes and scents of "their people."

It's not important to know who Laurie is. It's enough to know that Laurie is important to Goering, and the chair is (or was) important to Laurie, so much so that the artist painted her chair with such obvious affection.

Art that is both personal and accessible allows viewers to make connections both visible and emotional. In sharing with her viewers the things that move her, Goering gives us a chance to reflect on what moves us ... and why.

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