On March 28, seniors Seraina Weatherford, John Golden and John David Walt hosted receptions for their senior art shows in the Blue and Red Galleries in ZT’s Bistro, as well as the lobby of Kinlaw Library. The three Art and Design majors opened the viewings of their shows with snacks, drinks and visitors from campus and beyond.
Weatherford’s show is titled Efflorescence, which means “to bloom,” highlighting the floral details that appear throughout her art pieces. Though flowers are not one of the main subjects of her work, Weatherford noted that they are important because she loves the peace and visual aspect they bring to the paintings.
The 10 watercolor pieces in her collection all contain some floral detail but chiefly focus on animals in a portrait style. Each of the animals is shown in human clothing and human postures, based on existing artworks that she saw while studying in Paris this past fall. These pieces are detailed with pen to make them feel like illustrations in a book.
“I wanted it to be very whimsical and childlike. Part of the idea of using animals was to get that childlike nature back and to make it more playful and fun in that kind of way, by using animals instead of them being big, serious paintings like the originals are,” Weatherford said.
The other three pieces in Weatherford’s collection are ceramic, one being a vase that holds crocheted flowers–one of the other creative outlets she pursues. The variety of mediums is an indicator of Weatherford’s appreciation of art and the reasons any artist, herself included, produces their craft.
Across the hall in the next gallery, John Golden’s Impressions of Importance has between 25 and 30 pieces of sculpture, painting and printmaking. These pieces use scale, emphasis and color to highlight ideas that Golden has either wrestled with or things that he has deemed important during his time at Asbury. Sculptures that spotlight memories of these times and paintings that deal with complex ideas about self-exploration fill the gallery, waiting for spectators to take a deeper look.
Golden drew inspiration from impressionism, contemporary abstraction and pop art, particularly drawing from the artists of the impressionist movement; he wanted to show “things for how they feel rather than how they appear.” A large part of the way things feel is rooted in their color, which is another spot he drew from to create his art. With all of these components, the theme fell into place, as did a manifestation of his love for creating.
“I want two things,” said Golden. “I want people to see my art and take something away from it. I want people to see things how I have presented them but also to take those things and see them in their own lives, maybe ask some of the questions I’ve asked through making this art. Two, I want more people to make art. That’s one of my life goals–to make people excited about making things.”
Across campus at Kinlaw Library, John David Walt has displayed his senior art show in the lobby. The collection of screen and digital prints, titled Tikkun Olam, is a compilation of Walt’s time as an Art and Design major at Asbury.
“It tracks that process, my time being here and what I was thinking about. It’s kind of a visual journal,” said Walt.
Tikkun Olam is a Hebrew phrase that translates to “repair the world,” an idea that has driven the project as he looks into his own subconscious and conscious life, looking to philosophy and biblical history. For Walt, art is less about legalistic quality and perfection, and more about realizing heaven is what we make it here, as is hell. “Art is one way to access that kind of narrative in ourselves,” Walt said.
The eight prints and one sculpture are inspired not so much by the art that artists like Vincent van Gogh or Mark Rothko have made, but instead more by what they were thinking about at the time and the philosophy behind it.
Each artist’s work will be up until April 19 in the Blue and Red Galleries and Kinlaw.
Featured image by Macy Carmony.