Chris Troutman, assistant professor of drawing in the Department of Art & Design at Lamar University, is set to open a solo exhibition, Sequential: Studio Art and Comics, at The Art Studio Inc. Sequential will run October 5-25.

The exhibition covers a range of artwork that borrows from comics, mainly layout, storytelling/narrative, point of view, mark making and composition. The medium work includes charcoal and ink on paper, Sumi ink on Sumi paper for Sumi painting exhibitions in Japan, yet with comic panels, or oil paint on canvas and charcoal and ink on digital drawings printed on paper, all typically large in scale. 

“I intended for the title of this exhibition to express my interest in comic books. I’m not sure if it is a passion or just an interest, otherwise I would be drawing comic books themselves. I also intended the title to hint at how comics influence my studio art ‘Sequential’ and comics are a fun choice of words for me because sequential art is an academic euphemism for comics, which is the real name of the medium—a medium that has inspired my artwork since comics gave my compulsion to draw a guiding direction,” said Troutman. “The people and places I draw are from my experiences living in Southeast Texas and Southern Japan. Although I divide single images into panels, and some drawings into polyptychs, in order to tell stories, I also divide images into two or more sections, like panels, in order to compare the two places I live each year.”

For information on Troutman’s work or the Department of Art & Design, please visit lamar.edu/art.