“White Light” Joy Jackson – Harrison Center for the Arts – Feb. 27, 2002 – 3 1/2 stars

No relation (or inspiration) to the Herron show of last September by the same name, its examination of white light is less precise and simplified into a metaphor for purity as a catalyst for change. Jackson, who teaches glass blowing at the Indianapolis Art Center, having received her MFA in the subject at Temple University in Philadelphia, presents 20 clear, milky and white glass vases sitting upon suspended wire and perfecting eye-level glass shelving cutting across one of the gallery's corners. Jackson, an installation artist of talent, transforms the gallery space into her unique environment moreso than any other paintings-perfectly-centered-on-the-wall exhibit in this space has even come close to with lighting and installation, tic tac mask sculptures and glassware. A 2,000-pound Morton salt block installation is ghostly unnatural with its electric blue-tinged white light emitting from the crevices of the manufactured salt bricks. Under ownership of Redeemer Presbyterian Church the Harrison Gallery is improved with this exhibit as its proof, Through April 7, 2002; 317-514-6787. – Mary Lee Pappas

“Enchanted Bloom” Andrea Eberbach and Riccardo Consciasecca – Hilbert Conservatory, White River Gardens – Feb. 27, 2002 – 3 stars

Illustrator Eberbach finally frames her beautiful pastels appropriately (big white mats in black frames instead of decorated foam board), giving them a proper presentation they deserve. Her pastel handling is soft, perfectly melting the warm, rich colors with the same weight of hand, creating an even and gentle rendering of what might otherwise be a flat image. Eberbach's illustrations are unmistakably hers both for technique and her keen compositional knack. Consciasecca's super close-up digital image photos are sharp and force you to stop and smell the flowers if you never have before. Snapping super zooms of blossoms isn't anything new by any means - a flower at such a magnifying glass perspective is hard to get wrong as the flower abstracts and speaks for itself, but these are well-presented with the digital image allowing for a crisper, cleaner image. Through March 3, 2002; 317-630-2001. -Mary Lee Pappas

“A Hobby Handed Down” Elizabeth Young – College Ave. Library – Feb. 20, 2002 – 2 1/2 stars

Numbered handmade quilts, most folded over so they don't hang over into shelves and walkways, line library walls in their mostly very contemporary colors and fabrics. Some older quilt pieces incorporating floor sacks rescued and refiniggled enforce the sweet utility and family feel of this technically everyday ensemble. All of the quilts carry a family story or significance (each explained by Young in a little photoalbum scrapbook), having all been created for use over art, lending this exhibit its true charm. The fabrics and combinations in which they are teamed into patterns are not always aesthetically pleasing, but this is easily discounted when seen as real women's work. Through Feb. 28, 2002; 317-269-1732. – Mary Lee Pappas

Brian L. Phillips - Barnes & Noble – Feb. 20, 2002 – 2 1/2 stars

Phillip's business cards tout "self taught artist," a truth made most evident by the uncomfortable, unmixed handling of the oil paints. The black-outlined, geometric, generic painted portrait heads with dinner plate eyes softly twist into distinct multidimensional, primary-colored, flat-component puzzle piece fragments. Egon Schiele's elementary school doodlings may have resembled this work. Phillips' artistic strength lies in the fluid and tight compositions that feature the broken down angularity of these idealized, abstracted and gaunt faces. Compositional strength would benefit from mixing, layering and playing a bit more with the paint. Through February, 2002; 317-634-2515. - Mary Lee Pappas