Glenn LaVertu: Internal Ballistics

Educators are on the front lines of some of the most controversial topics that plague America today. School policies not only encompass methods for how to deliver educational content safely during a pandemic, but they also include policies for addressing active shooters and handling acts of violence. Strong feelings and belief systems override what's at stake, which is the health and safety of our youth. While politicians and public opinion rage on, educators continue to practice what they do while sometimes putting their own lives at risk. They have become more than teachers: they are the guardians of both minds and bodies of one of our most vulnerable populations.

Artist and educator Glenn LaVertu addresses the sensitive topic of gun control in his latest show at the Five Points Arts Gallery in Torrington, CT. In Internal Ballistics: the Design, Politics and Human Toll of Firearms in America, LaVertu explores concepts regarding these weapons, including gun anatomy and physiology, social implications, morality, constitutional rights, legislation, and those lives who have been affected by guns. As LaVertu utilizes mixed media to convey his thoughts on intertwined themes, he reconciles varying degrees of abstraction and realism. Juxtaposition is seen in many facets from subject matter, artistic style and his variety of materials to convey observations and thought-provoking presentations to elicit a meaningful dialogue on this controversial topic.

From his artist's statement regarding Internal Ballistics:

"I like things... or objects. I see things/objects as representational of humanity and at times acting as our surrogate. Human made objects have in them the life-force of our needs and desires. We made them and now they make us. Natural things/objects have a life of their own that we relate to or with, and we often embody them in some kind of way."- Glenn LaVertu

Watch Episode 73 here to see the conversation with Glenn.