Art aids in healing after family loses patriarch

CHILLICOTHE – When southern Ohio native Angela Locke lost her husband in May 2012, she looked for a way to heal herself and her family.

She and her four children found the means to express themselves in the best way Locke knew how: through her art.

“Suicide is a little different than natural causes,” Locke said. “I decided, when Jason died, that I wanted to share my story. ... The only way I know how to channel my energy is into art.”

This is the first time Locke has had an entire gallery to herself. The exhibit, “Where is His Heart?” Stories Post Suicide: A Family Collection, at the Pump House Center for the Arts is a collection three years in making and features some pieces that have been displayed in other galleries before.

A “self-taught artist,” Locke said the collection is a reflection of the emotions she and her children went through and used the art as a coping mechanism.

“It was a way to interact with my children about the incident, without talking about it. We could work on it without speaking,” Locke said.

Her collection, which opened at the Pump House on June 30 and will run until Aug. 1, is a mixture of a variety of art forms, including works in oil, acrylic, mixed media, collage and poetry.

She incorporated pieces that her children created, to show not only her but also the entire family’s healing process after the unexpected loss of a husband and a father.

The process of finding ways to convey her emotions allowed Locke to push herself to break down barriers, not only as a person but also as an artist. She started using media she had never before experimented with in her art.

Locke said the opportunity to have her work shown at the Pump House feels like a landmark in her healing — and in her life.

“This is my soul here. This is like bearing all,” she said. “It’s not all pretty, but it’s from the heart, for sure.”