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One Day at a Time Exhibit Opens

One Day at a Time by Julia Leggent is on show in the Osborne Family Gallery through November 12, 2023.

  • published: 2023/09/15

About the Exhibit

At a time when the right to choose what happens with our bodies is being threatened and even taken away, access to birth control has become increasingly more important. For the past few years, birth control has been a significant part of my practice; One Day at a Time highlights my works that include birth control. The show consists of a year’s worth of my Daily Pill paintings and a portion of my Trash Drawings.

Starting November 27th, 2018, I had been making a painting of my birth control pill every day before I took it. The pills were painted from life, the change in shadow mirror the lighting of the place and time that the pills are painted. From green to pink, the fluctuating background follows my menstrual cycle. I continued to feel the need to create a growing archive of these small pills, a visual manifestation of the huge impact these pills had on my life. On April 6th, 2022, I stopped taking the pill and therefore after that day, no longer paint them.

For one year, I drew each piece of trash created by the consumption of my household. Like the chore of taking out the garbage, the drawings were done every week. During this year we made great effort to create as little trash as possible, but some things, like the birth control packet, couldn’t be avoided, and is present in thirteen drawings.

One Day at a Time will be on display in the Osborne Family Gallery inside Criss Library from September 12th to November 12th. On November 12th from 5pm-7pm, join us and the artist Julia for a closing reception. The Osborne Family Gallery is open during the same hours that Criss Library is open.

About the Artist

Julia Leggent is an artist and educator living in Lincoln, Nebraska. Julia grew up Norton, Kansas, she received her BFA in painting from Fort Hays State University and she received her MFA in painting and drawing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Julia currently teaches an online drawing class for UNO and is the Gallery Director for the Eisentrager-Howard Gallery at UNL, where she also teaches and advises. Visit her website or follow her on Instagram.