"Small Paintings," William 
The 12 little oil paintings in this show are all different. They aren't part of a body of work, but rather glimpses of Lawson's influences, his direction and what makes him tick as a painter.
An Indianapolis native and professional painter for more than a decade, Lawson lists Hoosier Group artists T.C. Steele and William Forsyth, as well as regionalist artists of the Depression era William Kaeser and Cecil Head, as inspirations. But he doesn't imitate.
"There aren't too many artists my age who look up to these guys, but I have always felt a strong connection with their paintings. I chose to go against the grain and honor tradition," said Lawson, 35, who describes his work as "representational with both contemporary and traditional values."
Add his Precisionist tendencies, and the result is comfortable abstractions of what would otherwise be mundane.
Urban landscape scenes of buildings, homes and alleyways have distinguished Lawson from other local artists, particularly those in his generation. Half of the show features these works, which best represent his sensibilities and abilities.
Compositions of nondescript Downtown locales are tightly cropped like segmented studies where rooftops become flat color fields of unnatural hues and get bent in skewed angles.
In a painting titled "Rooftops," his mental method, the way he intellectualizes and dissects space, is fully realized. The works are simple and unemotional, and the everyday subjects seem irrelevant to the task at hand: painting. His gestures are smooth, steady and even; nothing feels forced.
"Carnival" is another such painting -- a garage is central to the fragmented scene, with a bit of a Ferris wheel tucked into the background and a car in the foreground.
"These paintings have a more contemporary feel," he said. "People can identify with the work, and I like to think that it creates a balance between individual expectations and conceptual thinking."
The visually easy balance he strikes with form and his stark palettes, which vary painting to painting, is effortless. It's upon closer inspection that you realize significant architectural details are missing, or that a gutter is disproportioned to create a comfortable, believable illusion. His visual twists are subtle and smart.
Two paintings of lone vintage typewriters also have found their way into this survey of Lawson's work.
"I have an ongoing series of typewriters that are getting pretty good response," Lawson said of this continuum. "I think it's important that people find something in your art that's fun and with which they can easily identify."
