Already featured across Union College’s campus, the work of graduate Victor Issa is on display in the McClelland Art Gallery now through October 24. Issa’s work, including “Welcoming Jesus” next to the administration building and “Prince of Peace” in the Ortner Center Peace Sculpture Garden, demonstrate his lifelike bronze sculpture technique, which has been described as “creating living bronze.
“What drives me and my work is the eternal pursuit of truth and beauty,” said Issa. “The Heart of God,” his most recently completed work, is prominently featured in the exhibit. The life-size sculpture symbolically depicts God’s intimate reach to humanity through the story of Mary Magdalene. This powerful and touching sculpture invites the viewers to reflect on God’s infinite love, and on our deepest desire of knowing and being known, received, forgiven and accepted.
Among the other works on display are several life-size sculptures including the delightful “My Buddy,” a commission of a young boy and his beloved Chocolate Labrador. A life-size bust of Lebanese-American poet Gibran Khalil Gibran will have its premier public showing at this exhibit. A larger-than-life version was unveiled last winter at the Los Angeles public library. The sculpture was commissioned for the World Lebanese Cultural Union.
Issa’s work is collected worldwide. Public installations include Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, California, Maryland and Florida. He studied sculpture at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln under the late professor Thomas Sheffield, and completed a B.S. in Art Education from Union College in 1980. Issa has lived and worked in Loveland, Colo., since 1988.
The McClelland Art Gallery, located in the Ortner Center on the campus of Union College, 3800 S. 48th Street, is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily. The gallery, which displays the works of a variety of artists including students, alumni and Lincoln residents all year round, is free and open to the public.