Couch culture: New exhibit in Willmar looks at human interaction through passive relaxation

Apparently, you can tell a lot about a person by the way they sit on a couch. In her latest exhibit at the Willmar Education and Arts Center Gallery, Ortonville-based artist Deb Bates Larson explores human relationships in the form of passive relaxation.
The exhibit, dubbed “Couch Culture,” features conceptual paintings of subjects in a variety of postures as they lounge on overstuffed settees and plush chairs.
The depictions were inspired by an innocent moment among siblings, when Larson observed her sons sprawled on the family couch, their limbs overlapped, but their minds clearly in separate worlds of thought. She focused on exploring ways to reveal the underlying qualities of relationships through proximity, language, gaze and expression.
Glimpses of the subjects’ personality and lifestyle can also be found through the inclusion of consequential personal objects, from a good book, to a curious terrier, to a faded Minnesota Twins cap and even a fibrous bovine.
The exhibit will remain on display through Nov. 7.
The WEAC is located at 611 Fifth St. SW in Willmar.
For more information, call Larson at 320-305-1333 or visit www.deblarsonart.com

1/2: This painting is part of the new exhibit by Deb Bates Larson currently on display at the Willmar Education and Arts Center. The paintings were inspired after Larson pictured her boys sitting on the family couch with their limbs overlapped but their minds in separate worlds, as seen in the painting at top right. (Tribune photo by Dan Burdett)

2/2: With this painting, Deb Bates Larson wanted to focus on the gaze of her friend, Edie, to illustrate her nature as gracious and friendly, while sharing a cup of tea, kind words and an earnest ear. The lake in the background symbolizes Edie’s story: the pull of her ancestral lineage calling her back home after many years away. (Tribune photo by Dan Burdett)