Artists Talk with LVA: January 8, 2026

This week, Luanne Smith & Bob Lockhart will discuss her new exhibit, Biophilia, now at Pyro Gallery. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM / Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

For Luanne Smith, painting is both a return and a renewal.  After raising her family, she rediscovered her lifelong passion for art through watercolor.  Her realistic depictions of wildlife, botanicals, and landscapes offer a close look at nature with attention to light and detail.

Primarily self-taught, Luanne continues to develop her skills through workshops and ongoing study with noted watercolor artist Cathy Hillegas.  She has exhibited in numerous community shows and is also a juried member of the Louisville Artisans Guild.  She is a member of Pyro Gallery, where she has just opened an exhibit of new watercolors called Biophilia, which runs through January 25, 2026

Luann Smith will be giving a Gallery Talk at Pyro on January 10 at 1 pm.

Bob Lockhart is an award-winning sculptor whose work is in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, the Indianapolis Art Museum, and many others. In addition, Lockhart's pieces have been commissioned by the Louisville Zoo, by numerous churches and schools, and by private collectors.

Vignette: Kayla Bischoff

"The universal language of humanity spanning across time and geography informs my work." - Kayla Bischoff

"Brouhaha" by Kayla Bischoff, Acrylic on birch panel, 35x54in, 2018, $675

When Kayla Bischoff cites her influences, Jean Dubuffet seems to be the clearest line: the utter denial of perspective and the embrace of his ‘art brut’ aesthetic, which celebrated the idea of art produced by ‘non-professionals.’ Bischoff certainly is no amateur, but her dense, kinetic compositions are filled with figures and faces rendered in a deliberately unsophisticated style, as if anybody could draw them.

Yet a laymen’s vision of what is accomplished art would arguably still be colored by an ambition to create form and space with detail and depth built from craft. What Bischoff gives us instead are simple images layered one upon another, forcing relationships and building depth through a density of marks that threatens to overwhelm the viewer; except she knows when to pull up. Her world is all surface, but what a busy, busy surface it is.

“The style in which I paint is a balance of abstraction, representation, spontaneous expression, and conscious decisions. The characters are hurriedly drawn in frenzy, and then built upon with several layers of paint to enhance the depth of the surface. I convey my ideas in paintings because the immediacy allows for uninhibited mark making. The tactile nature of the paint feels authentic while connecting me to the earliest form of human visual expression.” 

“As a contemporary artist I actively study and absorb art history. I seek to create a connection between contemporary art and that of past civilizations. I reference ancient artworks, such as figurines and masks from various cultures — Andean, Mesoamerican, Japanese, African, Aboriginal, etc. The universal language of humanity spanning across time and geography informs my work. The use of stylized figures acts as a communicative shorthand of body language and facial `expressions. Through the playfully chaotic layers of figurative abstraction, my work comments on the plight of the individual and humanity as a whole.”

“Gaping mouths, shrugging shoulders, flailing arms, and cackling faces occupy the surface in an overcrowded frenzy. On the surface my paintings are vibrant and playful; however, I invite the viewer to peer closer into the cluttered surface of detailed disorder to discover many of the abstracted figures experience some inner trepidation.”

In 2017, Bischoff had her 2nd solo exhibit, Push/Pull: Paintings by Kayla Bischoff, at Jasper Community Arts: Krempp Gallery, Jasper Arts Center, Jasper IN.

Bischoff is having a two-person show with Bob Lockhart at PYRO Gallery in Louisville, February 22 through April 7, 2018. There will be an opening reception Friday, February 23 from 5:00-7:00pm, and a Gallery Talk featuring both artists Sunday, February 25 at 1:00pm.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: BA, (Magna Cum Laude) Studio Art: Painting Emphasis/Minors in Art History & Psychology, Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY, 2014
Website: kaylabischoff.com
Instagram: /knbischoff/
Gallery Representation: Galerie Hertz (Louisville)         

Scroll down for more images

"Egress" by Kayla Bischoff, Acrylic on birch panel, 12 x 12in, 2017, $225

"Hoopla" by Kayla Bischoff, Acrylic on canvas, 24x30in, 2018, $525

"False Faces" by Kayla Bischoff, Acrylic on canvas, 48 x 60in, 2017, $875

"The Blame Game" by Kayla Bischoff, Acrylic on canvas, 36x48in, 2017, $675

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Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2017 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

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