Art Gone Musically Tubular

Many know Rod Lathim for his progressive and proactive work in theater, both locally and nationally, particularly through his founding of the award-winning Access Theatre and as a guiding force at the Marjorie Luke Theatre. Yet another important aspect of his creative life has been channeled, especially during and beyond the pandemic era, into the presumably “static” realm of fine art sculpture.

Among the signature elements driving his artistic ventures, which have gained gallery exposure and traction in New York City, Nashville, and around the South Coast, are a unique approach to the use of neon in an art context and a strong musical underpinning.

In a statement, Lathim asserts that “light and music are both ethereal, life-affirming, and mystical intangibles that have played important roles in my spiritual life. I believe that, like art, both music and light have a restorative, healing impact on people.”

With a new body of work now on exhibit at the Helena Mason Art Gallery, those two mystical forces cohere into happy synthesis and manifestation. In part, we may recognize the possibility that Lathim’s work in neon grabs the eye and senses in a bolder way in a city such as Santa Barbara, with its anti-neon ordinance (except for grandfathered-in anomalies). To his credit, the artist transforms neon — a medium known for its gaudier functions and kitsch connections, not to mention the lingering Vegas trope — into something much deeper, a sincere mode of aesthetic inquiry beyond the vibrational optics involved.

The integrated musical angle in Lathim’s art makes an immediate impact for gallery visitors, with a centerpiece triad of guitar-based sculptures splayed out on a wall facing the entrance. Guitar nerds — including those who might have loitered in the landmark Cowboystar guitar shop on Helena when it was in full bloom — will appreciate the Epiphone cherry-wood semi-hollow body instrument that is the basis of “The Aura of the Axe.” “Choctaw Hayride,” based on an actual Dobro instrument, is a neon-festooned creation, nodding to the artist’s love of dobro wizard Jerry Douglas and Alison Krauss’s Union Station.

Leaning into the arena of tragic current news, Lathim also brings Ukrainian instruments into his studio and artistic vision, as with the piece “Plugged In, Lit Up,” the first of his series of guitar-based sculptures. This Ukrainian semi-hollow body guitar, with four knobs and no brand name, comes equipped with a loaded socio-military resonance, by association. Similarly, the elaborate maze of tubing in a horn from Ukraine becomes the basis of the piece “Freedom Horn,” in the back gallery.

Another personal historical connection arrives in the form of an antique trombone-based piece, “Harold Hill’s Dream,” alluding to Robert Preston’s character in The Music Man. The curvatures of bright-hued neon trace the frame of horn but also emanate from the horn’s bell, as if a synesthetic surrogate for sound. With Lathim’s brass instrument-based sculptures, tubing of very different vintages, materials and functions symbiotically meet.

Lathim does venture into expressive areas beyond evident musical connections, as seen in “Hot Seat” — with loudly hued neon tendrils transforming the chair’s function into pure sculptural form — and the mystically inclined “Spirit Totem Trio.”

Still and all, the exhibition’s highlight, to these eyes and implied ears, is “On a Wing and a Prayer,” its musical motif fragmented into the form of a deconstructed violin with allusions to Picasso’s Cubist period. Jumbled and scrappily reconnected pieces, with varicolored neon tubing threaded through and struggling to hold the whole together, suggest a quest for order amid chaos. Or is that partly the fragile state of the world wafting into the gallery space and flavoring our response? No clear answer is forthcoming at the moment.

Suffice to say, Lathim’s sculptures provide some peace of mind via light and musical associations.

Rod Lathim’s neon “lightworks” are on view at Helena Mason Art Gallery (48 Helena Ave.) through December 31. Gallery hours are Fri.-Sat., noon-5 p.m., and Mon.-Thu., noon-5 p.m. by appointment. Call (805) 341-8178 or see helenamasonartgallery.com.