The Imperial Calcasieu Museum will kick off its showcase of Robbie Austin’s new art exhibit “Glimmer Twins” with an opening reception 6-8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16, in the Gibson-Barham Gallery.

Susan Reed, museum executive director, said the reception is free and open to the public. She said Austin, who is a Lake Charles native, will be present to talk to patrons about the exhibit.

“The exhibit will feature 22 drawings in black and white,” Reed said. “There are various drawings of different things — some common objects that are rendered in an uncommon way. Some of it is whimsical, and some is non-whimsical. That always makes a good, well-rounded show.”

Austin, whose background is in sculpture, said this is his first exhibit featuring drawings only. He described the collection as “visual conjuring” and “making interconnected reverie concrete.” He said it is probably the most vulnerable he has ever been in an exhibit because there’s nowhere to hide behind the drawings.

“The drawings of ‘Glimmer Twins’ spring from a landscape of ideal familiarity,” Austin said. “They reflect the everyday. I receive a glint of an image and delicately create a twin.”

Austin said he began working on the collection last May and looked through thousands of images before deciding which ones to draw. Examples include a detailed drawing of a lawn chair, a blue jay and a mother hanging laundry while holding her child.

“I chose the ones that have given me a glimpse, a spark,” he said. “My connotation with the lawn chair is my grandparents sitting in them at my T-ball game when I was a child. With the blue jay, they are quite territorial birds. Its eye and the overlapping of the feathers is what I wanted to focus on.”

Reed said the exhibit will be on display at the museum through Feb. 27. She said after the reception, the public can view the collection 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday or 10 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturdays. Cost to enter the museum is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and $2 for children.

For more information, call the museum at 439-3797 or visit www.imperialcalcasieumuseum.org.

Robbie Austin said this drawing of a lawn chair reminds him of his grandparents sitting in them at his T-ball games. (Special to the American Press)