It's
quiet and calm in D. Berman Gallery on a recent morning, the day
after the opening reception of Lance Letscher's current exhibit.
And Letscher seems more comfortable with that. The night before,
about 150 people filtered through the high-ceiling gallery.
The
40-year-old artist shrugs when asked if the opening went well: "You
have to do the openings; they're part of the deal. It went OK. .
. . "
The
truth is, the opening did go well. Of Letscher's 15 colorful collages
on display, five have already sold -- four, in fact, before the
party even kicked off. (Letscher's collages range in price from
less than $1,000 to upward of $6,000.) And after Letscher finishes
talking with a reporter, a visiting British property developer will
walk in off the street, take one look at Letscher's work and promptly
commission two pieces. Perhaps it's the sheer visual poetry that
people find irresistible -- the exquisite hues, the striking compositions
and the spirited yet elusive details that emerge out of Letscher's
carefully constructed collages made from worn vintage paper.
After
all, fortuitous episodes such as the commission from the visiting
Brit have been happening recently for the native Austinite who has
been working quietly and steadily since completing bachelor's and
master's of fine arts degrees at the University of Texas in the
1980s.
In
June, Letscher had his first New York solo show at Howard Scott
Gallery in Chelsea. The show sold out and garnered rave reviews
from hard-to-please New York critics. In January, he'll have his
second solo show at Conduit Gallery in Dallas. Then in April, Letscher
is off to Munich, Germany, for a solo show at the noted Galerie
Renate Bender. He's also got some work headed to Tokyo for an exhibit
in spring.
Letscher is diffident, almost critically shy -- not at all accustomed
to being interviewed, perhaps not so comfortable with all the attention
his career has been attracting lately.
Success
is a double-edged sword after all.
"It's
relieving," he says, noting that the now-steady income he has
from his work lightens the financial burden of raising two teenage
sons. But at the same time, there's a whole new kind of artistic
anxiety that's fueling his insecurities. "I feel this pressure
to push myself -- to take my work to the next level. Once people
have seen the work I'm doing now, they'll perhaps won't want to
see the exact same thing a year from now." Such is the nature
of success in the art world. To stay on top you must, well, stay
on top -- you must progress.
By
all accounts though, the powerfully visceral appeal of Letscher's
work doesn't let up.
"Lance's
collages have a real way of grabbing people's attention," says
gallery owner David Berman. "People walk into the gallery and
just head straight for his work." 
Maybe
that's because there's not a barrage of collage art gaining attention
right now in contemporary art circles. Or maybe it's the expressive
yet mysterious quality that resonates from Letscher's work.
He
builds his collages from old book covers and paper scraps, scouring
junk shops and second-hand stores. But it's not just any old book
or scrap of paper he's after. "I'm selective about the quality
of wear and tear," he says. "And I like to look for odd
colors and type faces and fonts that imply specific eras."
Letscher
collects handwritten documents as well -- ledgers, letters, recipes,
lists -- always looking at the emotional quality of the script rather
than the information contained. And he loves the out-of-control
aspect of children's handwriting, the expressionistic quality it
has. "I look for something that has a mysterious quality,"
he says. "Something you can't put your finger on."
Like
the pattern of the stonework in the fireplace at his grandparents'
house. When he was young, Letscher was fascinated by how the mason
had crafted the fireplace using a pattern of seven different size
stones. Yet though he would stare at it for hours, Letscher could
never decipher the structure of the pattern. Still he would gaze
at the stone fireplace, mesmerized. 
"I'm
attracted to art that has an endless quality to it," he says.
"The sort of images that make you feel like you're falling
into them until you're completely encompassed in a different world."
And
that really describes Letscher's current work. His collages evoke
an incredible amount of depth, whether they're a pattern of leaves
against an off-white background like "Small Green One"
or a vigorous array of small rectangles like "Red Bar."
Compositionally,
Letscher works in an abstract, not representational mode. It matches
his inner mood. "I see nature as perfect and elegant,"
he says. "And I feel like an awkward person."
Most
days find Letscher keeping daytime work hours in the light-filled
studio he built attached to his tomato-red bungalow in Central Austin.
Dogs bark out in the yard. Four of them -- Letscher's wife, Mary,
can't resist a stray.
He
cuts the collected paper and book scraps with surgical precision,
assembling them on Masonite, slathering them with brown-tinted book
glue before letting them dry while compressed in a book press. It's
not exactly a complex technique, yet it produces complex and compelling
art.
"Lance
Letscher was one of the most sincere and earnest students that I
have ever encountered," says Ken Hale, chair of the art department
at UT, who taught Letscher when he was a graduate and undergraduate.
"He made art as if it was an answer to an unanswerable question.
Add to that a shyness and a humbleness, and you have a very complex,
multilayered individual -- which describes his current work."
Rich,
mesmerizing and wondrous collages that are portals to another wholly
developed world.
jvanryzin@statesman.com;
445-3699
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