Casper College Featuring Artwork By UW’s Ricki Klages

“My paintings reflect the influence of the places I have seen, visited, or lived in. Although I have lived predominantly in the American West, the thirst for the inspiration of new places, landscapes and other environments has been constant. I have had the good fortune to live several years in Northern Italy. In addition, I have spent summers and holidays in and around London, and the southwest of England. All of these environments are referenced either directly or more subtly within my paintings,” said Klages.

“Using a mix of straightforward landscape representation, dream imagery, intensive observation, and subtly startling images, my paintings incorporate elements of still life, landscape and the figures that connect through a narrative and suggest something out of the ordinary … I paint from a desire for beauty and ‘otherness;’ of transcendent movements that still occur in dreams, memory and magic moments in nature. I want to capture the sense of routine and ritual, the sublime with the mundane and how they can mix in equal parts,” Klages added.

The Mildred Zahradnicek Gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is located in the Music Building on the Casper College campus and is free and open to the public.

On Saturday, April 26 a reception for Klages will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the True Atrium, also located in the Music Building. The reception will be followed by a performance by the University of Wyoming’s Verismo Trio featuring Theresa Bogard on piano, Scott Turpin on saxophones and Nicole Riner on flutes in the Wheeler Concert Hall.

General admission tickets for the April 26 reception and concert can be purchased online at caspercollege.edu/events/redstone or in person in Room 137 of the Music Building between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students.