THE SPACE WE ONCE OCCUPIED

The Space We Once Occupied

Faces have always fascinated artist Johan Lowie. He can’t sit on a train, in an airport or on a sidewalk bench without studying the tilt of a head, a raised eyebrow or people smiling at their surroundings or companions. Lowie also is riveted by blank expressions, or faces contorted in pain, either physical or emotional. But what he observes is not fleeting. Instead, all of that human drama is taken into his studio where he draws and paints what he has seen and felt.

“You pass by faces just like you do portraits in a museum,” says the award-winning artist who lives and works in Frederick, Md. “In that fraction of time when you see a person, can you read something in their face?”

Lowie strives to offer that intimate view of the people around him with his most recent exhibit, The Space We Once Occupied, focusing on the faces of those struggling with mental illness, Alzheimer’s, and other dementia-related illnesses. Lowie recalls that in his own circle of friends and acquaintances the concern used to be over failing hips and knees, or bad hearts and stomach issues, but now has shifted to laments over diminished mental acuity. “It was time for me as an artist to look into that,” he says.

“There are no titles in the exhibition, because all the people stay incognito,” Lowie says. “It could be you, me, anyone. We still see the person, he looks the same, but what are the inner workings? There are still a lot of taboos surrounding mental illness. I want the exhibit to spark conversations.”

The Space We Once Occupied, recently shown at Frederick’s Side Gallery Art Center, has accomplished just that, Lowie says, gratified by the number of visitors who shared their stories and connections with mental illness. The artist is seeking more venues for the collection of drawings and watercolors that contain 300 smaller portraits, 15 medium-sized ones and a canvas measuring 55-inches by 65-inches. Support for the artwork came from the Frederick Art Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Lowie is an artist who works every day. When recovering from a heart transplant years ago, he even managed to create studio space in his hospital room so he could continue to work. He has been a professional artist since 1994, as well as a teacher of composition, color and drawing and a lecturer, including at the University of Shepherdstown in West Virginia, Syracuse University in New York and at arts centers in Frederick.

Lowie earned a BFA from Kortryk Institute of Technology and an MFA from KASK, the Royal Academy of Arts in Ghent, Belgium. He spent eight years working as a commercial artist, developing graphic designs for a wide variety of clients, which sharpened his technical skills while also distilling his passion and desire to pursue more personal expressions. As a full-time artist doing the work that inspires him, Lowie says, “It’s the only thing I can imagine myself doing.”