Young artist Scott Kolbo

Age: 31

Birthplace: Othello, Wash., currently living in Spokane.

Kind of art: Prints, drawings and paintings.

Education: Master of Fine Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2000; Bachelor of Fine Art, Boise State University, 1996.

Day job: Professor of art at Whitworth College.

Describe your work: “The images I come up with are humorous and a bit cartoony. I like to draw funny looking people doing strange things in exaggerated environments.”

What about your process? “My process is a bit like a collage. I generally start with an idea for a character and then think through the kind of environment this person would inhabit. I collect images of this environment by looking around the city and recording what I see with a sketchbook and digital camera. I use my imagination and the computer to combine all of it. The result is a juxtaposition of familiar things put together into strange and surprising new arrangements.”

What is the intent of your art? “I intend to use my art to draw attention to inequality and injustice in our society, as well as to make interesting and beautiful things to look at. I like to make images about people on the outside of mainstream American life, specifically here in the Inland Northwest.

“I think that the best artists always somehow reflect the triumphs and failures of their eras, and so I hope that my artwork will do some of that as well. I want to keep making things that help people laugh at themselves and at the world we create for ourselves, but I also hope my art affirms the joy of being alive and the potential to change.”

Where can people see your work? Lorinda Knight Gallery, 523 W. Sprague Ave., Spokane; Print Arts Northwest, Portland, Ore.

Shows: “Mean Town,” Huneke Gallery, Spokane Art School, 920 N. Howard St., through Nov. 24; “Kevin Haas and Scott Kolbo,” Lorinda Knight Gallery, through January 2005.

Web site: www.existentialape.com.

E-mail: Skolbo@whitworth.edu.