Eleven oil-on-canvas paintings by University friend George Oswalt will be showcased in the Spiva Art Gallery until Nov. 21.

Ten of the 11 paintings are available for sale directly from the gallery. “Still Life With Other Considerations”, “Sleep Walk” and “Zero Gravity 4” all carry the highest price tag with asking prices of $4,000. “Prayer” has the lowest asking price, $1,200. “Romantic Notions” is the only painting not for sale.

“It’s a picture of his daughter and he didn’t want to sell it,” said Nick Kyle, associate professor of art and art department head. Kyle is a 30-year friend of Oswalt.

The series of paintings Oswalt has been working on for the past five years deal with “weightlessness, loss and life transitions.”

“These paintings are about the seen and the unseen,” he said.

Oswalt said he strives to tell the stories of turning points in life through his artwork.

“These plot points take you to existential voids,” he said, “Meaning of life is an eternal mystery. Time is the great mask that we can never unveil”

Kyle hopes Oswalt’s paintings will expand the horizons of Missouri Southern students through his use of color and his choice of subject matter.

“Oswalt’s paintings give people something to think about,” Kyle said. “He thinks about his paintings.

He doesn’t have a single vision when he starts his paintings, he builds his vision.”

Oswalt’s paintings feature predominately nude figures meant to showcase the beauty of the human form in its truly natural state.

“The paintings were very good; the overall idea the paintings gave out was weird,” said Brandon Edgar, freshman undecided major.