Review

"Beauty Myth," Magic Marker.

Amy Bertrand
Magic Marker Explosion

9 a.m.-9 p.m.

Lawrence Public Library
707 Vermont St.
Lawrence, KS
785.843.3833

Hours: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. noon-6 p.m. Sunday.
Runs through: Sept. 30.

Gallery site: http://www.lawrence.lib.ks.us

Maybe it's the name "magic marker."

It just sounds like something only kids would use, doesn't it?

That's unfortunate, because the marker (whether permanent or washable, although the former would be the obvious preference for archival work) can be an effective tool for artists of any age. It certainly is for Amy Bertrand, whose Magic Marker Explosion opens today in the basement gallery of the Lawrence Public Library.

Bertrand, a graduate student at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare, wants to use art therapy to help others. Her own work, she writes, is for experimentation and exploration of the inner and outer landscapes of life.

Those landscapes, outer and inner, can be unsettling places ... and Bertrand's boldly drawn, color-intensive art reflects that.

Beauty Myth, today's featured image, doesn't gloss over the issues of body image, how women measure themselves and are measured by others ... and the obstacles an affluent, largely sedentary society presents to those trying to meet conventional standards.

Bertrand's work is neither uniformly bleak nor overwhelmingly disturbing. She deals in upsides as well, which is only fitting for one who hopes to use art to heal others.

One thing runs true throughout Magic Marker Explosion: It's not the medium that matters, but what the artist has to say. And in this case, Bertrand has taken "kids' art tools" and made mature, thoughtful, challenging work.

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