2026 Light Work Grants in Photography: Maureen Beitler, Hernease Davis, Ian Sherlock Molloy, Amrita Stützle, and Patty Tomanovich

Sayler/Morris and Christina Seely: museum August 24 – December 11, 2026 Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery Opening Reception: Thursday, September 24, 5-7 PM

We’re Just Here for the Bad Guys chronicles Brian Van Lau’s relationship with his estranged father. Lau’s father was absent during his childhood due to his incarceration. After his release, he rebuilt his life in Vietnam, remarried, and gradually disappeared from Lau’s life. Nearly a decade later, Lau traveled to Vietnam following his father’s sudden illness, and learned of his terminal cancer. During their final week together, they collaborated on a photographic project that documented his father’s unsuccessful path toward recovery. After his father’s passing, Lau returned to his hometown in Hawai‘i seeking closure, uncovering hidden correspondence that revealed previously unknown parts of his father’s life. Entrusted with dispersing his father’s ashes across O‘ahu, the artist began working with his grandparents to reconstruct this fragmented family history through photography.

In her first US solo exhibition, Karolina Wojtas is sending us a conceptual care package, as an installation titled Made in Poland. Presented here are images of her family, friends, sometimes herself, kitsch objects, and folkish cultural treasures. These images are printed onto inkjet paper and textiles; soft sculptures, a video, and a text piece in the form of a letter together make up Wojtas’s own little fun fair in the Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery.

Sasha Phyars-Burgess: Everything Nice September 8–December 5, 2025 Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery Reception: Thurs, Sep 18, 5-7pm

Aaron Turner: The Archive as Liberation May 12–August 29, 2025 Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery Reception: Friday, July 25th, 5-7pm