Chain Reactions Stunning To See

One silver lining of the COVID pandemic: It brought together 14 visual artists from eight countries via Zoom with different professional backgrounds who forged lasting friendships. Over two years, they created what Eugene-based artist Susan Detroy calls “a sweet show.”

That show — The International Online Art Collective’s multi-media Chain Reaction Exhibit — opened Sept. 5 at The Hybrid Gallery to rave reviews. It will continue through Oct. 20, and it’s not a small installation.

“It’s really a big project,” says Detroy, an IOAC member who notes that the show, working alongside Greta Olivas of Florence, another IOAC member, and Hybrid staff, took more than six hours to put up. “This is one of the biggest shows I’ve been a part of.”

Detroy says IOAC was formed in 2019 as a smaller group from Chicago-based Sergio Gómez’s “Art NXT Level” project — a project that explores the creation and curation of artworks using technologies like virtual reality and the metaverse.

“We didn’t know each other,” Detroy says of the 14 artists, but that would soon change when Chain Reaction began to take shape in 2020.

Artists followed each other through seven rounds for each of the show’s 100 pieces, all adding their unique professional touches that Detroy says include oil, water color and acrylic paintings as well as mixed media and photography. Each artist had a week with the piece, Olivas says, all in kind of a blind draw, before it was emailed in a jpeg to the next artist.

“We never followed the same person,” Olivas adds. “Some are pretty obvious, and some are not. Some went out of their comfort zones.”

The key to understanding the art, both women say, is to read the narratives of each piece that accompany the show. Detroy notes that she has seen visitors at the gallery read the entire narrative of all the pieces in one swoop, while others go back and forth between a piece and its narrative to get the full flavor of the individual piece.

The Chain Reaction Exhibit premiered in Jamestown, New York, in November 2025 under the guidance of Wendy Bale, a member of IOAC. “I got to meet several people for the first time,” Olivas recalls of that show.

It has since been seen in Washington, D.C., and Miami. It could be headed to Australia or New Zealand as well as Italy, Detroy says.

Detroy notes that The Hybrid Gallery has been an encouraging partner in the Eugene show and that she took her time to find the proper venue for the Chain Reaction Exhibit.

“I worked a long time to find a place in Eugene,” she says. “They have been very supportive.”

The International Online Art Collective’s Chain Reaction Exhibit runs through Oct. 20 at The Hybrid Gallery, 941 West 3rd Avenue. Gallery hours are noon to 5 pm and 7 pm to 10 pm Wednesday, noon to 5 pm Thursday and 9 am to 4 pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The exhibition will also be featured during the Whiteaker Last Friday ArtWalk 5 pm to 8 pm Sept. 26, which includes the Whiteaker Community Market pop-up.

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