Cliff Tresner, associate professor of art at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, will be exhibiting at two different shows during May.

At an exhibition at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., Tresner and another sculptor, Herb Weaver, use their creations to tell the story of the entire creative process from inspiration to construction with material to presentation.

The artwork is understood to represent other things and symbolize deeper meaning by telling a story, sometimes of its own evolution. Tresner pays close attention to process during creation while remaining receptive to unplanned surprises and revelations.

He employs an array of media such as wood, bronze or steel to tell his stories. Drawing from his love of nature and the outdoors and his background in furniture design, Tresner sometimes allows the wood or the casting process to reveal the form of the piece to him.

According to Tresner, through the process of assembling the pieces together, they sometimes suggest they have an alternate utilitarian function and appear to be everyday objects. At first glance, “Sculpture, Twenty Five Dollars. Table to Put it On, Priceless” appears to be a woodworking bench littered with tools and works in progress, but it is also a finely crafted table and many sculptural objects.

Tresner will appear and give a brief gallery talk at a reception for the exhibition Saturday, May 12, at 7 p.m. For more information, go to: www.odu.edu/al/art/gallery/calendar.htm.

At a separate exhibition, Tresner will show two new outdoor works and one piece which is currently in the ULM Sculpture Garden, called "Dreams of Drowning," as part of the Garrison Art Center in Hudson Valley, N.Y.'s first community-wide sculpture tour "CURRENT." The preview event will take place on May 27. For more information, go to: www.garrisonartcenter.org/.