Lila was always a maker. When she wasn’t crafting gigantic packing tape animals she was off exploring abstract painting or small plaster sculpture work. In Joslyn’s Kent Bellows Mentoring Program, Lila got to experiment to her heart’s content with different materials and techniques, leading her to develop a signature style that could be recognized regardless of medium. During her recent summer visit to Omaha, Lila had one of her first exhibitions in a gallery other than Kent Bellows Studio. Her and friend Le Drake installed a show at Omaha’s Connect Gallery called Intrepidity that featured a diverse collection of woodwork, metal sculpture, jewelry, and paintings. Lila’s work definitely had a more professional touch to it since she had been in college. Her Calder inspired mobiles were larger and more engaging than ever before, and her once little plaster carvings were now refined life-size sculptures. It is not easy exhibiting your work as an artist, especially early on in your career. Producing a show can be expensive and exhausting, and seldom leads to sales. Lila, however, is determined to find her way as an artist regardless of the challenges. She is full of ambition and dreams, and can sense her own potential growing with each piece of art she makes. I can easily see her making the jump into the public sculpture realm or even working a bit at a foundry to professionalize some of her skills. The future is wide open for this KBMP alum.
No matter where her work takes her, I have a feeling that Intrepidity is not the last we will see of Lila in Omaha. Whether we see solo show next summer or a public sculpture pop up in a city park, Lila is sure to stir things up.
-Weston