Rod Lathim Exhibit Shines Light on Fine Art, Storytelling, Spirituality | Arts & Entertainment

Art & Soul contemporary gallery in Santa Barbara will present LIT: Love, Illumination, Transcendence, An Immersive Exhibition by Rod Lathim, opening for First Thursday, 5-8 p.m. Feb. 5 at the gallery, 1323 State St., Santa Barbara.

Timed to coincide with the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the exhibit offers an immersive and contemplative experience that bridges contemporary fine art, storytelling, and spiritual inquiry, organizers said. It will be on view throughout the Film Festival.

Drawing on more than 45 years as a storyteller in the theater, Lathim presents a body of work that explores light as both medium and metaphor.

Long engaged in creating works that reflect the human condition, spirituality, and the fragile beauty of life, Lathim turns to sculpting with light as a way to bring illumination, hope, and presence into an increasingly complex world, the gallery said.

“His artistic practice is deeply intertwined with his spiritual journey, a connection also explored in his book ‘Finding the Divine Child: A Journey of Spirit, Light, and Art,’” organizers said.

In the LIT show, love, illumination, and transcendence serve as guiding themes, inviting viewers into moments of reflection, stillness and renewal.

“The exhibition draws inspiration from the ethereal qualities of both light and music — forces Lathim views as inherently restorative and healing,” according to Art & Soul.

With a background in music therapy and decades of experience witnessing the transformative power of the arts, Lathim creates works that give visual form to music’s intangible energy, translating sound into radiant presence.

Repurposed vintage instruments and found objects, each rich with history, are reimagined as vessels of light. The sculptural works honor the past while offering new possibilities for meaning and connection, transforming familiar forms into meditative experiences of beauty and grace.

“I work with old-school neon — heated bent glass tubes, pumped with gas and combusted with electricity to create a diverse array of colors that can only be created with the art of neon,” Lathim said.

“I also incorporate beaded neon which requires Krypton gas and a special transformer,” he said. “This combination creates a kinetic, flowing effect of little translucent beads of light that travel through the glass tubes.

“It is a rarely seen application that lends itself to creating a visual representation of the movement and energy of music.”

Lathim said he is honored to have collaborated with Don Scott, Russ Carter, and Ricardo Duarte in the construction of these works, and to have partnered with Miguel Lee Leon and Clark James on numerous pieces featured in the show.

In conjunction with LIT: Love, Illumination, Transcendence, Art & Soul Gallery will host a series of events and workshops throughout February that further explore the exhibit’s themes of light, healing, and inner transformation. They include:

• Lit From Within: A Guided Visualization Experience — 2-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11. Join facilitator Laura Kate for a guided visualization experience inspired by the exhibit, inviting participants into a deeper, embodied encounter with light, presence, and inner illumination.
• Book signing with Lathim — 3-6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21. Meet the artist and celebrate the release of Lathim’s book “Finding the Divine Child: A Journey of Spirit, Light, and Art.”
• Artist talk with Lathim — 5-7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27.

Art & Soul is open noon-6 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, noon-4 p.m. Sundays with private viewings by appointment. For more, visit www.artandsoulsb.com.