The tuber mensch

Then along comes artist Scott Van Allsburg with his new show at the East Lansing Public Art Gallery, “Photography, Painting & Sculptures.” It features his abstract paintings and photo series that put the potato and its multitudinous eyes in the spotlight.

“When I photographed the potatoes I didn’t think much about it,” Van Allsburg said. “I just thought they were cooler than you think they could be.”

While the initial response to an exhibit featuring photographs of potatoes might be “huh?,” one glance at the creative twists Van Allsburg has implemented should convince you otherwise. One features several anthropomorphized tubers seated in foldout chairs. Another has a potato blown up to impossible proportions so that its craggy surface can be juxtaposed with a knotty tree. The scenarios seem oddly specific, but Van Allsburg professes his creative process flows with relative ease, right down to selecting which potato to use.

“No potato is better than the other,” he said. “They’re all good.”

Van Allsburg’s original intent with working with potatoes was a tad more high concept: He bought 1,000 potatoes from the grocery store and subjected them to a variety of processes, including frozen, baked and aged to varying degrees. He wanted to alter their skins to various degrees, giving each spud a unique look. He then wanted to photograph all of them and compile the shots in the fashion of a high school yearbook.

That idea never came to fruition, but the potatoes were all photographed and placed in a collage that was featured at last year’s ArtPrize, which he has participated in every year since its inception.

Van Allsburg, 61, picked up the camera in 1979 when he was inspired by the black-and-white photography his roommate adorned their walls with. The love affair lasted throughout the decades, leading him to participate in several workshops to hone his craft. In 1990, Van Allsburg was stricken with depression, but rather than suppressing his creativity, he found it fueled his creativity in a new direction.

“I started drawing after I was diagnosed,” he said. “Drawing really helped me get centered.”

From drawing stemmed other creative outlets, including painting, which is also featured in Van Allsburg’s exhibit. He takes an abstract approach to his painted works, starting every work off with a base of pattern and colors. He then allows the works to dry and repeats the process, resulting in a dynamic image with a subject that sometimes surprises him.

“(It’s a repetitive process) when I make these paintings,” Van Allsburg said. “But I know they’re done when I feel like I don’t want to give them away.”

He admits that he has spent way more time creating than actually promoting his work, and said he hopes that the future holds just as much of the former as it does the latter.

His next photo series will consist of images of wet/ripped paper. While this may seem like another unconventional contribution to the art world, Van Allsburg just philosophizes that this is merely his way of setting his place at the vast table of creatives.

“There is room for creativity for everyone,” he said. “If you love something you can find a way to be successful that works right for you.”

“Photography, Painting & Sculptures”

Works by Scott Van Allsburg East Lansing Public Art Gallery 6 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday- Friday; 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday; noon-8 p.m. Sunday Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road, East Lansing FREE (517) 894-2166, cityofeastlansing.com