Artist Rick Sikes displays work in Art Gallery

The art work of Rick Sikes is on display now through Tuesday, Jan. 30, in the art gallery of the Center for Performance and Technology located on the campus of LSMSA.

Sikes is a practicing artist and educator based in Ruston. He works as a graduate teaching assistant at Louisiana Tech University, where he is earning his Master of Fine Arts degree in studio art. He is also the owner and director of the Downtown Gallery and preparitor for the Masur Museum of Art in Monroe. In 2010, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree specializing in illustration at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design.

His work focuses on the dangers of prescribed medications, their effects on people and the untrustworthy nature of the pharmaceutical industry. By analyzing the dangers of these medications and their effects, his work provides commentary on current society overcome by addiction.

“My work takes a critical view of the overabundance and use of narcotic drugs provided by the pharmaceutical industry,” said Sikes. “The goal of this body of work is to contribute to the understanding of the developing prescription crisis in our society while pointing out the entities responsible for their disproportionate dispersion.”

Sikes uses oil painting and mixed media to analyze the individual mind-altering medications and their effects on the lives of people he is close with.

“Symbolism, allegory, the merging of spaces and the human figure are all techniques I use to communicate the effects of pharmaceutical drugs on individuals,” he said.

A closing reception for the show will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 30.

The art gallery at LSMSA is open from 12 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For more information, contact Chris King at cking@lsmsa.edu.