Washington so c ial d iar y
over the moon
Hunt Country Artists The horsey set draws, paints and sculpts BY vicky moon
DOWNTOWN IN THE PLAINS Not far from the main intersection of the sleepy hunt country village of The Plains, artist Lilla Ohrstrom is a constant presence at her Youngblood Art Studio. Lilla and her husband Chris Ohrstrom have three children, and yet this busy mother finds time to teach classes, host life drawing sessions and stage exhibitions. Since childhood, Lilla has been intrigued with working in clay and it remains her preferred medium. “Most of the sculpture I’ve been making over the last couple of years is based on the human figure,” she says. “Sometimes the forms are abstracted focusing more on an emotion than a representational form.” With a degree from Skidmore College University Without Walls, Lilla also studied at Parsons School of Design in Paris. She focuses on stoneware, terra cotta, porcelain, and has cast a collection of dog sculptures in bronze. “A physical and visual conversation between the artist and the medium are always part of the process,” she explains. Her latest work “is mostly about trying to view our foggy internal world and put that abstracted place into some kind of physical shape” Many of her pieces in this genre will be part of a show titled “Transfiguring” which will be on display in Washington from midSeptember through the end of the year at the Charles Sumner School Museum. Lilla says her long term plans for Youngblood art studio are to “continue working and teaching, but also to use the gallery space as a venue for artists to show their work on a quarterly schedule.” She recently held a show for Charlie Westbrook’s “expressionistic bovine paintings” — a big hit in these parts. Another exhibition/ benefit for lesscancer.org raised $3,700 to support a fund to buy groceries for children with the disease.
WA S H I N G T O N L I F E
| S e p te m b e R
2008
| washingtonlife.com
Lilla Ohrstrom works on sculpture in clay, her preferred medium. (Photo by Karen Buckley)
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