By Jairo Cortés-Marín

While appearing to be the normal, fun college student, 18-year-old TCC freshman Harry Lucas has more to him than most would expect. With his life motto being “Be here now”, he is a young man making the most out of his opportunities in a wide array of manners.

Born in Chapel Hill, N.C., Lucas has lived in a handful of other places in the U.S, including Colorado, Tallahassee, and several other cities within the state of Florida. Throughout the years he has become a well-rounded artist in every sense of the word; creating pieces in mediums as sculpture, painting and performance art, while writing and performing stand-up comedy.

Beginning with art classes at the age of six Lucas discovered a passion for art.  That wouldn’t be his only passion though, as his mother was an English teacher and it arose another big interest for him: reading. “There were so many books around, so I just always read a lot”, said Lucas, “I just always focused on the fringe subjects, those that pushed my mind to new limits”. It was those readings that inspired him to look beyond what’s commonly accepted and established and fuel his artistic pursuits.

Another big moment for Lucas came when, at the age of 16, he began performing stand-up comedy at local venues around Tallahassee, like “The Warehouse” and “Bird’s Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack”. After a successful streak of shows, Scott Bell, founder and creator of the Tallahassee-based independent record label “Cat Family Records”, approached him and eventually signed him as a comedian.

This gave Lucas the opportunity to perform and host shows frequently around Tallahassee, being met with a lot of praise and eventually recording a comedy special for the label. Such good performance earned him a spot in the Cat Family Records summer  2015 tour, with stops in Alabama, Florida and North Carolina. Lucas will be hitting the road again soon for the 2016 summer showcase.

Nevertheless, Lucas puts equal amounts of effort and passion into his art. He is currently working on a project where he will be creating pieces to leave around Tallahassee, as he believes art shouldn’t be confined and should be accessible to everyone.

In addition to this project, Lucas recently had a painting exposed at the TCC library as part of a student artwork exposition.

“The piece really speaks to who I am and want to project,” said Lucas. “If you lay out material in front of people that can provoke thought, that’s what goal is, because an idea is really the most powerful thing there is. I like bringing ideas to life, rather than copy other’s”.

A Painting That Intends to Switch Perspectives

As part of a student artwork exposition in the TCC library, Lucas, created a painting – titled “Door” – which offers a complex and refreshing portrayal of life, the mind, and a glimpse into his own past experiences.

Although the title might seem direct and simplistic, everything was carefully chosen by Lucas, in a piece that’s more tied together than what a casual glance at the artwork might make you believe. “Look at it this way, we’re on the outside looking in. Yet, in today’s day and age most people are focused with looking out”.

“Grab onto something you don’t know, and that’s how ideas are shaped”, said Lucas.

In a way, Lucas’ piece works with a duality, with the peephole bringing everything into focus. The peephole permits us to look beyond the door itself, which then takes the painting out of sight. Yet, Lucas’ expression creates a resonating thought, if attention is placed more on what lies beyond the door, one might miss oneself as one misses the painting itself.

“We see a minute percentage of the imagination. The human mind goes on forever”, said Lucas when asked to elaborate on such a societal context. It is his was of critiquing a period of time in which more is available but less is known.

Another eye-catching aspect of the piece is Lucas’ play on the word “culture”, as it points at another idea in his piece. Drawing much inspiration for the aboriginal cultures, he wanted to draw attention to our roots, the heritage we all share, and the importance it should have.

“Grab onto something you don’t know, and that’s how ideas are shaped”, said Lucas.

Additionally, Lucas included a passage from a book by Tibetan monk Tarthang Tulku, and painted over it for two distinct reasons. The first being a symbol of bad censorship, as he is part of a record label and likes to include that aspect of his life into his art. Secondly, for the direct relationship the passage has with the narrative of his piece.

Tulku’s quote explains how images pop-up in our minds and bring about a sense of longing, for which we seek some externality that can fill the void. The passage finishes by hinting at how viewing within oneself is the solution.

And the narrative of the piece projects such quote; it is as if Lucas was pondering on his life, and the images only perpetuated the suffering – as symbolized by the bleeding face. And Lucas’ decision to use the analogy with the door, reflects the solution Tulku offers.

“Art is about repeating ideas, in new and evocative ways”, explains Lucas, “I wanted for the piece to talk for itself. The painting can explain the passage, and the passage also explains the painting”.

In essence, Lucas creates a duality in his piece: his view on his life (which was “established” in 1997), but also a nod at the viewer to explore the mind, view through the peephole at what’s unseen within and discover him/herself internally.