LCCC exhibition explores Wyoming landscapes through printmaking

CHEYENNE, Wyoming – Drawings and prints reflecting on environmental change, social systems and Wyoming landscapes are coming to Laramie County Community College this summer with an exhibition by artist Laura Grossett.

“The Pale Horse Waits” will be on display June 23-July 30 in the Esther and John Clay Fine Art Gallery on LCCC’s Cheyenne campus. A reception is set for noon-1 p.m. July 27 in the gallery and adjoining Surbrugg Prentice Auditorium lobby. A workshop with the artist is planned for 9 a.m.-noon and 1-4 p.m. July 27 in Fine Arts, Room 129.

The exhibition uses natural disaster as both metaphor and consequence, reflecting on environmental collapse, social systems and the long-term effects of greed-driven exploitation. Grossett said the work grew from a sense of living through multiple global crises, from war and economic instability to COVID-19 and increasingly severe environmental disasters.

“The work is looking at how our decision-making and our politics affect the environment,” said Laura Grossett, artist. “It also looks at that as a metaphor for our society, in particular from an American perspective.”

Grossett said many of the drawings in the exhibition are based on Wyoming landscapes, including mountains and cloudscapes. Showing the work in Wyoming, she said, gives it a chance to resonate with people who know the landscape and understand both its beauty and vulnerability.

Wyoming’s natural beauty is often broader and more varied than people outside the region may realize, Grossett said. At the same time, she has seen places where that beauty has been damaged by extraction and environmental disruption.

“Wyoming has so much natural beauty,” Grossett said. “I think people don’t know about it. Maybe they think about Yellowstone and Grand Teton, and that’s it, but there’s so much there to see and to experience.”

Although Grossett views the exhibition as one complete body of work, she said some viewers may be drawn to pieces that include horses. In the works, pale horses appear in the background of some drawings and carry symbolic weight related to death and decline, though Grossett said viewers do not need to interpret them exactly as she does.

“For some people, these are just going to be landscapes with horses in them, and that’s OK too,” Grossett said.

Printmaking is central to Grossett’s artistic practice. The medium, in her view, is democratic and community-focused because it allows artists to share images more freely than some other forms of art. The laborious printing process is meditative and allows for necessary deep reflection, she said.

Grossett received her Master of Fine Arts in printmaking from Colorado State University. She has taught throughout the region and considers Front Range Community College her home. As a teacher, Grossett said she especially values community colleges because they bring together students from a wide range of ages, backgrounds and experiences. Additionally, she founded Mad Deer Press, operated multiple print studios, and hosts print workshops at The Beet Print Studio in Loveland, Colorado.