Q&A with artist Lea Lackey-Zachmann

How would you describe your work?

For this exhibition “Transitioning”, I would say the mixture of printmaking, painting, sculpture, and drawing is evidence that my work is changing or in transition. “Transitioning” is the name of the combined exhibition of my work and Alix Hitchcock’s work. I’ve taken one idea /inspiration and followed five pieces in whatever direction they have flowed. I started with making large monotypes of tree shapes which developed into acrylic paintings. In addition to those five color schemes, a sculptural painting developed as a result of my wishing to say and show more. After that, the people that I know seemed to “fit” into the category of those colors and forms. Then the unique characteristics of the colors, forms, and people reminded me of mythological characters. The correspondences of color, form, meaning, and myth must be the next step or transition I will take in future work.

How have you changed as an artist over the years?

As an artist over time, I have learned to follow my instincts in art-making. I have learned how to maintain a steady studio practice, with occasional forays into new techniques. I’ve become more involved in the process of making than ever. I trust the process of going in the inspired direction with a freer expression more than ever.

What artists have influenced your work?

So many artists have been influential! Rothko, Toulous Lautrec, Kahlo, Monet, Michelangelo, Kandinsky, Hundertwasser, Joseph Raphael, Morris Louis, Bill Viola are a few that come to mind right now. I could type names all day.

Do you have a favorite medium?

I must say that all mediums are interesting to me. Acrylic paints, colored pencils, Dura-lar as a painted sculptural surface, printmaking inks, different kinds of papers are the most recent ones that I’ve enjoyed

What does making art mean in your life?

Making art for me is meaningful as it provides an outlet for my need for visual expression. Making art keeps me inspired for living. If I don’t make art for a few days, I find myself less than happy and often become unwell physically. It is essential to living.

Lea Lackey-Zachmann

Artworks: February 2021

Four Women Show
Original Prints and Paintings by Alix Hitchcock, Lea Lackey-Zachmann, Katherine Mahler, and Mona Wu

Exhibition dates: February 5 – 28, 2021


Browse and shop this exhibit and our Front Gallery exhibit online in our shop! Take a video tour of this exhibit here.

Alix Hitchcock, “Fall Shifting”

 Alix Hitchcock

For this select show, Alix Hitchcock has worked with colored inks and waxy china markers using drawings from models or stencil shapes of human forms and foliage forms. These large format works intentionally create a somewhat chaotic vision, where the layering of forms with added gestural marks and calligraphic lines may belie gravity, or blur distinctions between foreground and background; figure and space.
 
Alix Hitchcock holds a MA in painting from NYU and a BFA in printmaking and painting from UNCG. She has been an instructor in studio art at WFU, Salem College, UNCSA, The Sawtooth Center for Visual Arts, Reynolda House Museum of American Art, and the Weatherspoon Museum of Art, plus a number of additional esteemed institutions. She was selected as the Winston-Salem Artist of the Year in 1998, and is a founding board member of Artworks Gallery. She has exhibited widely in numerous local and national galleries and centers for art. Her work is held in many collections, both private and public.


Lea Lackey-Zachmann, “Goldfinch Dream”

Lea Lackey-Zachmann

Lea Lackey-Zachmann often makes images that are not exhibited or shared with the public.  “I appreciate those personal and often meaningful processes,” says Lackey-Zachmann. “Each of these paintings arose from experiences like that years ago. They were made quickly and afterwards rolled up, only to be recently found after a studio move.” The Covid pandemic period presents the perfect time to rediscover and exhibit these refreshed and completed 20 year old paintings.

Lea Lackey-Zachmann has a BA in Art Education, a graduate teaching certificate in Art Education and an MFA in painting. Also a founding member of Artworks Gallery, she taught art at the college level for over 30 years and continues to paint, make prints and explore video. The Natural world has been a focus of her art since childhood. She lives in Winston-Salem with her husband, two dogs and a cat.


Katherine Mahler, “Depth Finder”

Katherine Mahler

Combining printmaking and painting techniques, Katherine Mahler explores identity through the use of layers, shared symbols and maps. Drawing from her experiences living around the country and traveling globally her art reflects the commonalities and connectedness of the human experience.
 
New Artworks Gallery member, Katherine Mahler has a BA in Studio Art from Kenyon College and a BFA in Art Education from Michigan State University. Mahler is currently applying to be an MFA candidate. She has been teaching art to students of all ages for the past 20 years, including in Texas, Michigan, Louisiana and North Carolina.


Mona Wu, “Homeward Bound, Swallows”

Mona Wu

Mona Wu is exhibiting her unframed prints in large format, mostly monotypes, both old and new works. Comprised of botanical subject matter, these prints are the product of Wu’s love and appreciation of natural beauty ever present locally, in the state of North Carolina.
 
A native of China, Mona Wu immigrated to the US in 1970. She studied Chinese painting and calligraphy in Hong Kong, then later received her BA in Art History from Salem College and studied Printmaking at WFU. In 2003, Wu was selected as Sawtooth School Winston-Salem Artist of the year. She joined as a member of Artworks Gallery that same year. Wu currently teaches Printmaking and collage at Sawtooth School of Winston-Salem.


The exhibit is free and open to the public. Gallery hours and other info about the gallery can be found on our Visit page. Shop for artwork from gallery members in our Online Shop.

A WS Street Gallery Stroll

Artworks Owens Daniels on display, front and center.

Take a safe stroll/drive down 4th st. #dtws to see several #artworksgalleryws artists on display in @aperturecinema ‘s street gallery 💝 These works of art  were created as a part of a community art initiative curated by @seccacontempart to help fill the empty outdoor movie poster frames outside @aperturecinema during the COVID-19 Stay Home order. 🌼

ArtworksGalleryWS artist Woodie Anderson shares the love in her poster design around the theme of hope.

April 1984: Artworks Collective’s first exhibit

Pictured from left: Founding members Lea Lackey-Zackman and Tenley Shewmake, with Alix Hitchcock hammering a nail and Jean Parrish hanging artwork for the first Artworks Gallery exhibit in background. April 1984
Bringing art into the community since 1984: Press clipping of a 1984 interview with some of the founding members of Winston-Salem’s Artworks Collective on the occasion of their first exhibit as a group. A larger scan of this article is available here.

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