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Exploring an Addiction to Social Media

“This project started when I complimented a friend on her photograph and said she should frame it, says artist Leah Owenby. “We joked that it would never exist outside of Facebook, so I offered to paint it for her. When I took a screen shot for later reference, the ‘done’ and icons below tickled me.  Why not?, I thought, make that part of the painting as well?”

We receive a flood of information on social media including poignant, tender, and humorous displays of the human condition. But rarely do we stop for longer than a few seconds as we scan our feeds. In this series of “little paintings,” Leah Owenby lifts moments from Facebook, SnapChat, and Instagram and spends time with them, elevating the mundane, and making fleeting images into fine art. Each is the result of a mindful, meditative process, quite the opposite experience we often have as we mindlessly scroll through social media.

Leah adds, “The funny thing is as I work on these, I make sure to log OFF the actual sites, as they tend to distract and depress me.”

Leah Owenby is lucky enough to live and work where-it’s-greater in Decatur, Georgia. An alum and staff member of Agnes Scott College, she now works with all of her former art and theatre professors in a dream job that allows her time to be an artist and go home for lunch every day. Blending whimsy with sarcasm and bright colors, her art wanders between mediums from blind-contour portraits to diabetic assemblages. Visit her at leahowenby.com, and of course, on Facebook . . .

Opening Reception
Friday, Jan. 30, 6-8 pm

On View
Tuesdays-Saturdays
10 am-4 pm

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