Local artist takes a spiritual quest on canvas

Kirk Baird

Thursday, Sept. 14, 2000 | 9:17 a.m.

What: "Road Trip II."

When: Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-9 p.m., Monday through Friday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Saturday.

Where: Winchester Center Gallery, 3130 S. McLeod Drive.

Cost: Free.

Information: 455-7340.

For some, the answers to life's questions come while worshiping in temples or high atop mountains.

For Montana Black it occurred while on road trips and in late-night chat sessions at Las Vegas' greasy spoons.

"I thought if you're in a church, you're in a communion with God and other people," said the 34-year-old Las Vegas native. "For me, I never got that spiritual sustenance or nourishment in any kind of religious or church setting. It's always been on the road (or) with a good friend of mine over a cup of coffee."

Consequently, when she decided to make fine arts her major while a freshman at UNLV in 1985, those experiences and feelings crept into Black's work.

A collection of that art, more than a dozen pastels in an exhibit titled "Road Trip II," can be seen in the gallery at the Winchester Community Center.

It was a slow process. In art classes Black first painted nudes and such still-lifes as fruit. Gradually she began to incorporate coffee cups into her work -- both oil and pastels -- fascinated by their shapes and forms, which, she said, represent femininity.

Then Black placed the cups on highway settings -- on poles to look like giant billboards. Eventually she drew more images associated with road trips and myriad roadside diners of yesteryear, and the series was born.

It was right about then, Black said, that she realized she was taking her own feelings of spiritualism and placing them on canvas in the form of American icons.

"It's an ongoing experiment in elevating common objects to a spiritual or sanctified level. It is a feeling that I have about these different things and what I felt during a road trip or during breakfast at Denny's at 3 o'clock in the morning."

When asked why she attributes religion or spirituality with being on the road, Black said it was the feelings of mystery she experienced while on these trips.

"You kind of know what's gonna go on over the next hill but you don't really," she said. "It's kind of a neat surprise.

"I look at religion, or spirituality, as a mystery to me. I think anything for people can be a spiritual message for them. I don't think it necessarily has to be Christ on a cross or Buddha on a lotus flower or the myriad of images out there. We limit ourselves."

For Black those images are as simple as a lonely stretch of road, a hot dog, a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes and a piece of pie -- any image that relates back to long trips across U.S. highways and the eateries that went along with them.

Using pure Americana as a religious symbol might seem heresy to some, but Black is quick to add that she is not trying to "trivialize" religion; these are all images she associates with her own spiritual journey.

"I find I have a greater sense of peace and understanding when I'm on the road as opposed to being in a busy city working with all the distractions," she said. "All you've got is you, the road, the landscape and pretty much God. So there's a lot of time to think. (You) can soul-search better in that kind of environment, at least for me."

For Black, the spiritual quest began at an early age. In fact, some of her first memories are "snapshot images" of her father, mother and sister taking an Airstream trailer across Nevada. At 7, her father passed away. At 10, her mother, by then a retired federal employee, used the summers to take her two daughters across the Southwest. They went to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and other lesser-known parks.

This continued until Black graduated from Rancho High School in 1984. In college, however, the trips were infrequent and Black found herself going to diners with friends and discussing life over multiple cups of coffee.

"In college I was exploring a lot; everybody does -- religion, philosophy, 'What do I feel about this?,' " Black said.

Then late one night she and some friends took a trip to the since-closed Cathedral Canyon, where she became fascinated by the religious imagery that was lit up, illuminating the surrounding area.

It was then, Black said, she realized that spiritualism and nature are intertwined -- in essence, the road trip as a religious experience. As she combined her feelings with her art, the images were stark: a lone white coffee cup perched high atop a pole, bathed in darkness, its surroundings barren, save for a deserted highway.

It was, Black said, indicative of her feelings at the time, when she took things too seriously.

"I was neurotic and went through all that stuff," Black said.

Laughing as she described herself more than a decade ago, she said her goal is "not to take things so seriously" anymore.

To that end she drew what she said is probably her last piece in the road-trip series, "Gateway." Its blue skies with french fry-shaped clouds, green grass, a long stretch of highway and two corn dogs elevated above a highway, sticks crossing over each other (hence the drawing's title).

"If you're on a road trip and and you say you're going to Graceland or nirvana, that's the American road-trip gateway," Black said. "You're entering the promised land when you enter the gateway."

Again, hardly serious stuff, which is why she seems ready to end it. At peace with her spiritual side and the connection she feels to the road, Black said she's ready to move on.

It's something that's been coming on for a while, she said.

"We just change as we get older, and our viewpoints change and our desires change," she said. "What I thought was important is changing."

One thing that won't change, however, is her love for the road.

Black said she and her husband of a year and a half, Ken Chipchak, continue to hit the road, recently making a weekend trek to Reno for a classic car convention.

As she gets older, Black said she gets more out of her excursions onto the open road because the trips mean more to her now than then.

"I understand there's a limited amount of time for these places to remain the way they are," she said. "I'll probably always be taking road trips."