This is the second installment of the (Sub)Urban interview series.
Benjamin Rogers | Artist | (Sub)Urban from October 30 through December 16, 2017 at The Stamp Gallery | University of Maryland, College Park | Interview by Cristy Ho
Let’s begin with some background information about you. Where are you from and how did you get into creating the type of art you are making now?
I am originally from Kentucky, I lived there for the vast majority of my life but I’ve lived in Colorado for the last 2+ years with my wife and son (who is now 3.5). It’s a long road to get to how to making the type of work I’m making now. When I started studying painting I was really only interested in abstraction and non objectivity. But none of my friends really believed that I knew how to paint, so I made a realistic self-portrait and got a lot of great feedback which felt really good, but I was also challenged in a different manner than I had been working abstractly. For a number of years, I tried different ways of combining representation and non objectivity, with a variety of results. Working this way made me interested in the contrast between dimensionality and flatness which is a theme that has really stuck with me.
In terms of imagery I was heavily influenced by David Hockney’s figurative work, although I have to admit that this influence was almost entirely subconscious, I had made several paintings before I realized how much I had borrowed from him.
Your current work is comprised of paintings of people and everyday objects that inhabit particular spaces. What do you hope to represent in your work by choosing to paint these subjects?
Each painting is in some way trying to manufacture a narrative, I have a specific narrative in mind when creating the piece but I like to create a somewhat ambiguous painting which invites the viewer to complete the narrative. The objects around the figure(s) are meant to be like attributes in a painting of a Saint, they inform the character and the narrative of that individual or group of individuals. So in some paintings the narrative is fairly prosaic in others it is much more heroic.
More on your artistic style, I’m drawn to how the proportions of the people and objects in your work are realistic yet the bold colors you use also break your subjects into geometric forms. Is there a specific reason why you choose to intensify the saturation of each object in your paintings as opposed to using a more muted palette?
This mixture of naturalism with an almost cartoonish color palette is directly related to what I was saying earlier about the contrast between flatness and dimensionality. I am trying to push the imagery to be somewhere in an almost non-real place. I really like realism, but ultimately find it somewhat boring. So by pushing the saturation of the colors I’m and creating a work of art that is somewhere in between realism and flat graphic imagery and hopefully making a more unique contribution to the visual landscape.
Your work also appears to be very structural composition-wise and perspective-wise. On your website, you mention that you work from photographs. Do you rearrange objects in the room before taking a picture or do you rely more on shifting perspective to create the ideal composition you want for each painting?
When I work from photographs I do so in a few different ways, every once in awhile the original photograph is sort of perfect how it is, which was the case with “What did I know of Love’s Austere and Lonely Offices” and a few other painting. Most of the time I have to make slight alterations to fit better into the composition. Before I draw my imagery I always put down a grid that measures the ratios of the format of the canvas, so then I will move objects and figures around to ensure that they align with those compositional elements in the most effective way. Along with this method I also invent a large portion of the objects in the room and other visual elements during the painting process, this allows me to see the canvas as an abstract picture plane and place things in the painting based on their color relationship and their conceptual connection to the figure. This is how “The perfect romance of self reliance” was made. The last way that I work with photographs is really based in photoshop and actually cutting things out and putting them in different places and really creating a photo collage out of several photographs and them pushing them together during the painting process to make everything seem coherent.
What Did I know of Love’s Austere and Lonely Offices by Benjamin Rogers
Now on to your piece ‘What Did I know of Love’s Austere and Lonely Offices’, a watercolor painting based on a photograph of you and your wife weeks before your son was born as mentioned in your blog. The viewer of this piece feels a sense of being on the ground and looking up at this scene as if they were a child. Can you talk more about your emotions on entering parenthood and how it ties into the Robert Hayden poem that inspired the title of this work of yours?
I think that the best description of that time would be ambivalence. I was really excited to be a father, but I realized it would mean that a lot of things were going to change dramatically. My wife and I had not really even known each other at that point. We met and started dating long distance (she lived in Minneapolis), then got engaged 5 months later and started living in the same city (Cincinnati), we were only engaged for 3 months before we got married, we moved back to Minneapolis for a teaching job I got, and my son was born 10 months after we were married. So we really didn’t have any settling in time as a couple, and everything was really up in the air (at this time I knew my job was going to end in a couple of months and had no idea what we were going to do). So all of that stress was mixed with being a father, which is my biological imperative that I knew would come to shape my life for the next 50 years or so. The poem just made me think of the kind of thankless job that is being a father, providing and quietly doing things for a family that aren’t necessarily noticed or appreciated, that that is love. It is pretty strange, because the photo was taken at this time, but it wasn’t painted until well after we left Minneapolis to move back to Cincinnati to live with my parents while I tried to find a job and then moved out to Colorado where we are now. So my son was probably two by the time I actually painted this piece. Also, I’m not sure if I had said in my blog post or not, but this was actually taken on my 30th birthday, so there’s a little of that flavor in there as well.
I remember reading Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden as a child and how deeply the first few lines resonated with me.
Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold
Blueblack is somehow the perfect color to describe a father’s austere love. I really want to say that I love how you captured the shadows in this piece. You mention that you initially painted all the shadows on your body blue but covered most of it in the final image except for the shadows around your neck. Is there any other instance where you have utilized color to express the mood in this piece?
I have not ever really been interested in expressing mood through color, I guess it always seemed like a cheap trick, or a gimmick in a way, so the blueness of the male figure (me) isn’t really there to communicate an emotion or mood, but more because it seemed appropriate in the context of the colors. This painting was really my first attempt at making watercolor painting, NOT the first time I’d used watercolors, but they’d always been used as more of a study, or a medium that I would play around with. In fact, I had taught three semester of watercolor classes before I made this piece. I had used it to experiment with watercolor underpainting, and really establish a cool temperature under the figure from the outset of the painting. My thinking is that the shift in temperatures from shadow to light is what really transform a painting to be highly dynamic, so I was trying to emphasize the shadows from the beginning and see how much of that cold underpainting would show through even after layers of warmer colors were applied to make it look more “realistic”.
The wooden frame also complements this watercolor painting well. This material matches the cabinets depicted and creates a homey atmosphere. Is this your intention and how significant is having this kind of frame for your painting?
The frame was created as a way of presenting the watercolor with a glass or plexi barrier. I have been struggling with how to present my works on paper, and I made another frame like that one for a drawing, and was really happy with it. What is interesting is that I got into a national watercolor show and before the show opened I was informed that I needed to reframe the painting if I wanted to include my piece in the show. The establishment for watercolor painters is very hoity toity and want things done only in particular ways, so it’s cool to get that feedback. I was really just trying to create something neutral where the painting was floating, but it happens to match the cabinets with the elder wood.
The Perfect Romance of Self Reliance by Benjamin Rogers
Moving on to your oil painting titled ‘The Perfect Romance of Self Reliance’, there is a packed room with various tools scattered on the floor and tools clutched in the hands of a woman who appears to be your wife. Would you say that this painting is like a snapshot of an event or more so a portrait of this person?
This painting was kind of a collaboration between my wife (then girlfriend) and I. She is a photographer and had moved to Minneapolis just because she always wanted to. There was something that I really admired about this, because I would be far too worried about making enough money, not having any friends, being lonely etc. So it was kind of meant to be an ode to her self reliance, and really display her as a hero a al Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People”. The objects on the ground are meant to be a collection of tools that she will use to conquer any obstacles that may cross her path. So she took a bunch of images and sent them to me, many were beautiful but didn’t quite fit my aesthetic but I thought that one was great.
What do you like about painting with oil and what do you like about painting with watercolor? Is there a medium in which you find it easier to convey your message and mood?
Painting with oil is my favorite medium, I didn’t do it very much until I moved to Arizona for grad school. Before that I worked almost entirely in acrylic, which was cool, but in retrospect it was very limiting. In the humid climates of the Ohio River Valley and Louisiana, acrylic paint was really easy to work with, but in the Arid climate of Arizona it was basically impossible. So that was really why I got into painting in oil, but when I did I really jumped in whole hog. Almost immediately I fell in love with oil painting, and felt like I could paint whatever I wanted and was no longer restricted by the physical attributes of the medium. That’s been my favorite ever since. Watercolor is a different kind of challenge and makes a very different type of mark, I really like the layering process that comes with using watercolor on cold pressed paper, and how you can really build up the surface with pigment, but the physical surface is still very flat. With oil paint you get a physical change to the topography of the painting’s surface. Generally before I start a painting I have a personal formal challenge of some kind, and it is generally specific to the imagery that I’m working with, and that will inform the medium that I use. For example I have a drawing titled “addressing the fourth wall” I wanted to make a piece that was nearly completely black, which lead me to make my first major charcoal drawing. I am working on a color pencil piece right now, and I will be making a pastel piece after I finish that. So the imagery generally provides me with a technical challenge that makes it more advantageous to use one media instead of another. This usually works out great, but I have a piece called “Nature, Red in Tooth and Claw” That I’ve done as a graphite drawing and a watercolor and neither really feel right for the image, so I’m going to keep working with it until I get it right.
Lastly, what inspires you the most and what is your motivation for creating art?
I’m influenced and inspired by a lot of things, mostly I draw upon other art, like music, poetry, books, films, and I also draw a lot of influence from other artists and art history. I usually try to have my compositions relate to art historical references, but in a lot of ways they are more inspired by Wes Anderson, Tarintino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and other cinematic references. In terms of how I conceive of a work of art, my ideas come from many places, often they are formal in nature. Like, I will want to do a painting with a particular color harmony, prominent color, or a particular theme which references art history. Sometimes I will have a title which will inspire a piece, sometimes I’ve finished a piece well before I have a title for it. Most of the time I start with a particular idea, then it evolves with my concept and then evolves after the photograph has been taken.
Check out (Sub)Urban in The Stamp Gallery of the University of Maryland, College Park, happening October 30 through December 16, 2017.
Those Girls Clenched So Many Hopes, Dance, Dance, Dance, Thrice
Line Up! Take It Like a Man, But Don’t take it up with ‘The Man’
Lower the Pitch of Your Suffering, Soundless Invisible angels
As a fun experiment, I made a collage poem out of the titles of the artworks currently on display. The creative process was quite intuitive. Similar to how these artworks visually and conceptually complement each other, their titles happen to poetically complement each other and collectively take on a meaning that captures the essence of the New Arrivals 2017 exhibition.
I find that I like processing ideas in my mind through drawing, writing, or creating music playlists, whatever the subject matter is. It helps me gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for what I am trying to learn, especially when it comes to art. That being said, visitors are welcome to bring a sketchbook to the Stamp Gallery. Did any of the artworks remind you of a song? Tell a docent and perhaps it will be added to the playlist of Art Hour, Stamp Gallery’s own radio show. Whatever the case, getting creative and acquainted with the artworks is highly encouraged!
Come experience the New Arrivals 2017 exhibition in The Stamp Gallery, happening now through October 14, 2017.
One question that I’ve been pondering lately is quite annoying in its apparent simplicity: How do you look at art? In our busy lives, going from point “A” to point “B”, and trying to get everything possible done during the day, we often forget how to just look and think. In the Stamp Gallery I am asked a lot of questions about meaning and why a piece is what it is. Often times I can give the inquirer an answer but that answer is either one from the artist’s statement or from my own interaction with the piece. It is not the individual person’s individual answer. Why does that matter you might ask? Well in some ways it doesn’t matter. My opinions and the creator’s opinions are some ways of understanding the works but in my opinion experiencing art is more complex than that – not more difficult, just more complex. Asking yourself what you think when looking at a work of art has the potential to be infinitely more rewarding than trying to find an answer through somebody else.
With this idea in mind I present to you some thoughts on how to look at art.
1.Taking your time
The Stamp Gallery is an easy place to speed through. The gallery itself is not huge but there are many pieces housed here for the enjoyment of patrons. It is surprisingly easy to pop into the gallery and speed through on the way to class or work, spending little to no time with the pieces themselves. One of my biggest suggestions is take your time! Come in, look around, read descriptions, ask questions, sit down a while and think about what you are seeing. Come into the gallery when you have some time to spend with these awesome works of contemporary art. If you only have enough time to speed through, note which works are calling to you and make time to come back at a different time to explore them. Thought is best cultivated with time.
2. Going where you are pulled…
Art isn’t meant to be a chore – most of the time. Trying to pull something from a piece you have no interest in can be a good exercise but there is something rewarding in trusting your instincts and going where you are pulled. Do you like a specific piece? Ask yourself why or why not. Do you notice yourself pulled towards a certain medium or subject matter? These observations about what you like can provide insight into the works themselves and into your own opinions and worldviews!
3.Thinking about context…
If you are lost when it comes to meaning, think about the context of the piece. How is it presented to you? What does the description tell you about intent? A lot of contemporary art tends to interact with the world in which it is created. How do you think it works in the world around you?
4.Don’t judge yourself and your ideas – interpretation says something about your perspective on the world around you!
Sometimes you may think something about a piece and then dismiss your ideas as incorrect or stupid—don’t! Even if you pull something from the piece that the artist may not have intended in its creation, it does not mean that that something wasn’t in the piece too. Interpretation is a valuable part of the art viewing experience. Examining your own feelings and opinions towards a work can at times be even more valuable in reflecting on your own life than the artist’s original intentions are. Don’t judge yourself for thinking.
5.Be courteous and kind to other patrons!
Having your own experience with the art is important; however, remember that other people in the space are doing the same thing! Unless the art dictates otherwise, these spaces are generally good places to keep at lower volumes. Discussion is great when with a friend but when in the gallery, be courteous to people around you who might not want to deal with a lot of distractions competing with their experience. Read the room and you’ll be fine.
6.Have fun with it!!
Like I said earlier, art is not a chore. While pieces may be taxing emotionally or mentally, coming to a gallery should be an experience you enjoy. Galleries are fantastic places to reflect, to appreciate, to wonder, and to question things that you normally wouldn’t have the time to question otherwise. Most importantly, enjoy yourself. Art is a purely human endeavor and is therefore a miracle in itself.
Written by Kat Mullineaux.
The current show in the Stamp Gallery, CAPP: NEW ARRIVALS 2017 runs through October 14th.
Come by the Stamp Gallery and have your own experience with the art:
This is the fourth installment of the I’m Fine artist interview series.
Rachael Carruthers || UMCP ’17 || Exhibiting in I’m Fine from June 5th through July 28th, 2017 at The Stamp Gallery || University of Maryland, College Park || Interview by Christopher Bugtong
Let’s start with some background information about you. Where are you from, and whatfirst got you into art?
I was born in Sheffield England in 1994 and moved to Takoma Park, Maryland in 2001. I have always been an avid figure drawer ever since I was a very young child and after
taking a ceramic class in my freshman year of high school I began working as a figure
sculptor. What drove you to pursue a degree in studio art?
I want to continue the work of the femme sculptors before me, and continue carving
room for femmes in sculpture to live and work in their truths. I feel at this point the best
way to do this is to pursue an MFA and then a tenure track teaching position at an
academic institution.
You performed Dirty Laundry on two separate occasions in the Stamp Gallery: once for the filming of the piece, and once again live during the opening reception. What is it like, placing yourself in that performative role under such different circumstances?
My performances, being endurance in nature, always reinvigorate me upon completion.
It is a very rewarding experience to push the limits of one’s patience and fortitude. In
the vulnerable state of being on the floor undressed and exposed during the opening
reception I become so comfortable that I began to drift in and out of sleep after twenty
minutes or so. This particular outcome continues to astound me and causes me to
further reflect on the subject of violence. My exposed body is protected by the public
nature of the event, there is safety in visibility.
Cold Comfort and Dirty Laundry seem to explore the relationship between sculpture and performance/video. What drew you to these art forms, and how do you interpret this relationship emerging in your work?
My sculptures have always revolved around the body and it wasn’t until my fabrication
of Cold Comfort that my sculptures began to be directly related to, and formed from, my
own body. When it came time to display Cold Comfort, it became clear to me that the
presence of my body was important for the audience to understand the conceptual
aspects of the work, and that my physical presence could cause discomfort and intrigue
in the viewer.
Are there any particular artists, art movements, or other concepts that inspire your current work, or your art overall?
History inspires my work, I study patterns of oppression and resistance. Reading through
testimonials and hearing from femmes within and outside of my community drives me
to make work that probes systems of power.
You mention in your description of Cold Comfort that it is the first of your “Pillow Series”, and your artist statement elaborates further on the process. How do you see each piece within the series distinguish itself and speak to the series as a whole?
Each piece reflects a different aspect of seeking comfort, whether that’s exploring what
comfort is sought from or what transpires to result in needing comfort. I develop these
narrative through the material usage and the position in which the piece relates to the
body. How do you see Cold Comfort and Dirty Laundry in relationship to the other works of the I’m Fine exhibition?
In these tumultuous times it was interesting to see so many artists turning inward
towards the body and their own personal experiences. It was great seeing such varied
voices battling with similar subject matter through so many different media and
perspectives.
Any future plans for your work and yourself? Upcoming exhibitions? Graduate school?
I am currently attending an artist internship at Franconia Sculpture Park in Minnesota
and this upcoming winter I will be applying to MFA programs.
This is the second installment of the I’m Fine artist interview series.
Nicole Osborne || MFA at GWU ’18 || Exhibiting in I’m Fine from June 5th through July 28th, 2017 at The Stamp Gallery || University of Maryland, College Park || Interview by Christopher Bugtong
Let’s start with some background information about you. Where are you from, and what first got you into art?
I was born and raised in Gatlinburg Tennessee. I have been creating art since I could remember. I grew up within the 15 mile stretch of the Arts and Crafts community where my parents owned a shop. For as long as my mother could remember she could sit me in a corner with a sketchbook and I would be satisfied for hours.
What drove you to pursue a degree in studio art?
I knew that creating art was something that I would be doing for the rest of my life and so when I was told I had to go to college I chose the Fine Arts. Wanting to further my craft and learn more about modern and contemporary art while being in a creative community much like what I had grown up within was just instinctual for myself.
I understand that previous installations of 611 Timber Ridge RD, Gatlinburg TN 37738 have included your live performance. Has the use of prerecorded audio for the duration of this exhibition altered your perception or expression of this piece?
My first experimentation with this instillation had a performance component. The Audio is a way for myself as well as my mother to be present with the viewer. I couldn’t be there in person for the social interaction of the piece and am using the audio as my substitution as well as an instrument of bringing the viewer even further into those moments in time.
Your works in this show all invite the viewing public to participate in the artistic process. How does interactivity involve itself in your conception of these pieces, and in your artistic process in general?
I am a tactile person and am constantly being yelled at in museums for getting too close to the fine art pieces. I enjoy participating with a piece and breaking the rule of “hands-off” while in gallery and museum spaces. These pieces invite the viewers to participate or donate their own pieces of work to an ever growing representation of our societies either through the instillation of the work or the social media spaces where they can even post their interaction with the pieces if they so choose.
While working this show, I’ve noticed that visitors of all ages—from children to the elderly—take the time to participate in So We Color and Classification of Other on Paper. Is this a surprising observation, or did you intend for those works to have a more timeless appeal?
It is really funny to think about these pieces. I had a visiting professor who was determined not to interact with these and stated that he did not like them “AT ALL”. I see it as an opportunity for the viewer to break a norm within a gallery space and invites them to be a part of a piece of artwork. I am thrilled with how well received the pieces were while being a part of this show and I plan on taking whatever pieces of donated artwork along with the piece so that it will continue to grow with time along with us.
Is there any significance to the figure depicted in So We Color and Classification of Other on Paper?
Yes. The figure is meant to be neutral in aspect so that the viewer can allow their own interpretation of society to be placed onto the other figure. It is interesting to see the results of the interactions of colors and how I allow them to tell me whether the figure is male or female, happy or sad, and so on. It is somewhat disturbing and enjoyable to see how these figures come through in the black and white Xerox copies that are placed on the wall. While sitting in the school chair, I feel the pressure to conform to societal norms intensify. These other figures in black and white pressure me to conform, representing all of those rules of coloring inside the line instilled by the teachers from the public school system screaming in my head and the effort I put in to fight against the invisible hold it has on me. The feeling when I open the binder and realize that I am not alone in this is comforting, especially after the pressure of the chair.
How do you see your pieces in relationship with the other works and overall theme of the I’m Fine exhibition?
I feel that the curators did an excellent job of placement. 611 Timber Ridge RD, Gatlinburg TN 37738 is both a cathartic work that is a representation of something that is lost and a way of healing while being more in the current moments of my life. It interacts well with the other pieces in the show, which I feel are cathartic in process for many artists and invite the viewer to rest for a moment. So We Color and Classification of Other on Paper are examples of the pressures that are placed on us during our everyday submergence into society and the comfort of knowing that we are not alone in this process. I believe that many of the pieces in the show are some kind of commentary of society or are a cathartic process that helps the artist to cope with the emotional onslaught of loss or disturbing revelations within our society.
Any future plans for your work and yourself? Works in progress? Upcoming exhibitions?
I am currently with the MFA program at George Washington University. I am expanding more on the Other Series and the Wall Flower Series. My thesis exhibition will be focused around the Other Series. I am continuing to enter the Other Series into shows all over but If you follow me on any of my social medias @Ozzyarts I will post when and where the next installations will be.
Before we go, is there anything you would like to highlight about your work or the show as a whole?
I really appreciate the opportunity I was given and the great results of the curators of this exhibition. As for my work I am eternally in a constant struggle against the instilled social norms that I find suffocating whenever I hear the voices in my head. This series will continue for as long as I feel uncomfortable within my surrounding standards, and I do not see those going away any time soon.
Art has the intriguing ability of capturing certain moments in time. For instance, you may recall certain memories while watching a film, looking at a work of art, or listening to a song. This may happen to an artist when they look at their own work, which may function a bit like a time capsule. A lot of artists are compelled to create art when encountered with intense feelings or experiences. In this way, art may serve as a reminder to the artist of how things were in the past. Art tends to capture the experience of the artist through a subjective lens more so than an objective reality. Strong feelings have the tendency to distort and cloud memories, and creating art is a way for artists to navigate their emotions and make sense of the past.
Creating art can be a way to document important events. It can be similar to writing in a diary but without the confining nature of words. Consequently, art may serve as an ideal coping mechanism. An artist may choose to focus their art on their current hardships or choose to focus on occurrences that haunt their past. Artists may pour their emotions into an artwork to put their past to rest.
Artworks affect the artist who make them as well as those that view them and can relate to them, whether sympathetically or empathetically. Perhaps viewing the “I’m Fine” exhibition may stir up emotions and memories of a distant time, and cause you to reflect on your own growth.
This is the first installment of the I’m Fine artist interview series.
Dana Hollister || UMCP ’17 || Exhibiting in I’m Fine from June 5th through July 28th, 2017 at The Stamp Gallery || University of Maryland, College Park || Interview by Kat Mullineaux
Dana Hollister / “Living with ADHD” / Screen Print
Dana Hollister / “Living with ADHD” / Screen Print
Before we discuss your contributions to I’M FINE specifically, let’s get some background information about you. Where are you from, what did you study as an undergrad at UMCP, and how long have you been making art?
I’m originally from Silver Spring Maryland, so not too far from College Park. I was a studio art major with a concentration in wood sculpting as well as an honors student for the last year of my bachelors and I have been making art since I was in 8th grade. I was in an intensive art program throughout high school and continued on when I got to college.
When looking at your artwork in this show, I can’t help but notice your dynamic choice of materials throughout your pieces. Personally, the use of re-purposed wood in combination with light, in your piece ‘I’m Fine’ struck me. The sculpture seems to be an interesting combination of welcoming and aggressive, like saying “I’m Fine”, both making me want to get closer and warning me to stay away. Was that intentional?
Yes, it was definitely intentional. When I was creating the work I was thinking about how people with PTSD and cognitive difficulties interact with others. From personal experience when someone asked me if I was okay, my heart wanted a hug and my brain wanted to shove them away as fast as I could. I tried to embody that as much a possible in this piece.
Dana Hollister / “I’m Fine” / Re-purposed wood, light
Dana Hollister / “I’m Fine” / Re-purposed wood, light
The prints in ‘Living with ADHD’ play with a dynamic kind of controlled chaos, combining words, images and moments of blue among black and white. How does living with ADHD affect or influence your artistic process?
To be honest ADHD is probably the reason I am an artist. Most of the work I do comes from random thoughts that I have during conversations, or readings that I have to finish. ADHD is quite frustrating, don’t get me wrong, but I have found a way to channel it into my art that helps me cope with how intense it can be.
How does your piece ‘Resilience’ comment on the road to acceptance for those who face stigmatization and struggles with mental illness/disorder? In your opinion, how important is art in the battle against stigmatization?
Well the piece itself shows the uphill struggle that everyone with a mental disorder or illness deals with. The road to acceptance is the most challenging part because there is this thought that we must be “normal”. And “normal” people are never depressed or bipolar or have any issues that may cause relapses. No matter how untrue this is, humans will always perceive their issues in a negative light. “Resilience” represents the shaky and difficult road to acceptance but the smooth and easier slide down to accepting yourself for who you are, rather than fighting it.
I’m my mind art is super important for fighting stigmatization because when someone looks at your art they don’t think or know that the artist is going through difficult times. The artist is just another person walking on the earth as they are. Art allows those with cognitive differences to express themselves and show their talent without being out into a category.
Dana Hollister / “Resilience” / Plywood & Metal
In ‘Living with ADHD’, ‘Resilience’, and ‘I’m Fine’ you play with unique materials including re-purposed wood, screen printing, plywood, and metal. What is your favorite medium to explore in your art? Do you find yourself drawn to unconventional materials?
My favorite material to use would have to be wood. The smell of the wood is just so natural and intoxicating that any other material just seems wrong in my hands. I grew up in a nature loving family so I try to be as environmentally conscious as possible. That means that I am drawn to unconventional materials. Being able to use throw away or discard material makes me feel like I am doing my part to re-purpose materials so they don’t find their ways into our environment.
Does your art tend to focus on your personal and internal life or do you look at the world around you and the experiences of others when creating it? Is it a combination of the two?
My art is definitely a reflection of my personal life. Most of my work revolves around how I deal with my out mental illnesses and how I cope with them in hopes that it may shed light on what people with my issues go through or help other seeking for coping mechanisms.
Is there anything or anyone that you feel particularly inspired by or influenced by? Are there any movements politically or in art history that you feel drawn towards?
The sculptors Foon Sham and Debra Butterfield are probably two of the artists that influences my current body of work the most. They taught me that I can make art about what I love and feel rather than making it just for the sake of make it.
Can you tell me something about what you are currently working on?
Currently my work revolves around my particular coping mechanism for my depression, ADHD, and whatever else I may have and not know about. My material consist of found objects from the horse farms I work for, for example horse hair that the horses rip out themselves on the walls or water buckets.
Now that you have graduated from UMCP do you think that you will pursue any further education? In art perhaps?
I am considering getting a masters in sculpting.
Before we go, is there anything you would like to highlight about your work or the show as a whole?
Just that the show turned out really well and all the artists work were as amazing as I expected them to be!
It is a strange question to ask, but after being exposed to Nicole Osborne’s piece So We Color, I find myself often thinking about that question and how others would answer it.
This question first came up when a group of children came in to visit. Many of the kids paid little attention to the works around them and a few of them even refused to believe that what we were showing was art. While a majority just stole glances of the art or took turns listening to Tam-anh’s film Are you better off alone?, there was boy sitting by himself, deeply involved in the coloring of Nicole’s piece. A small conversation between another docent and the boy followed:
“Why is he in a locker?” the boy asked.
“Why do you think he’s in a locker?”
“…Maybe… he’s lonely”
“What color do you think loneliness is?”
The boy didn’t respond, but instead he paused with a thoughtful look in his eyes and then silently chose a color began coloring again.
I never knew what color he chose and he left suddenly after that, taking the page with him, but this scene has left me with a deeper understanding of Nicole’s piece than when I sat in that small wooden desk and colored a picture myself. I took a shallow stab when I colored my first piece and I thought that others wouldn’t involve themselves as deeply as well. A few weeks have passed since then and now I see that many of the participants have been brave enough to share their secrets and insecurities through Nicole’s art.
I have seen and experienced art generating conversations and eliciting strong emotions, but this was the first time that I have seen art persuade its viewers to share their own personal struggles. If you come by the gallery and color a piece, perhaps you’ll learn something about yourself and discover what color loneliness is to you.
Nicole Osborne’s “So We Color” ・ Viewer Submissions
The bodies we use to walk through the world are fraught with challenges – one of which is our very own mind. Whatever we struggle with, whatever we conquer, our minds are their own little complications. On the other hand, our minds can be our access point to creation, to emotional connection, and to a wide array of healing experiences.
The show of the moment at the Stamp Gallery is entitled “I’m Fine” – now we’ve all said or heard that before, fully understanding its cover-up abilities. The artists featured in the Stamp Gallery have explored what it is to cope and grow from tragedy, life, and larger societal realities through art and the process of creation. Our minds can create art and art can in turn bring about some sort of peace or understanding into the absolutely wonderful chaos that is our everyday.
Even the space itself, Stamp Gallery, is a spot for pause and for reflection. Watching over the art as patrons wander in to glance at or maybe even interact with the pieces, in a way, provides a feeling of balance. They experience the power of the artist’s mind in the artist’s creations. The mind of the creator in a brief moment interacts with the mind of the patron whether or not either party knows it. From watching a video of an artist pealing and scraping plaster off of her skin to listening to a woman discuss the burning down of her home with her mother while swaying peacefully in a rocking chair, observing art creates an entry point into a different life- a different world even.
The opportunity that places like Stamp Gallery provide to learn something about you through another person’s journey is something to be reveled in. With respect to some universal narratives, it is important that we each spend time examining the uniqueness of our existences and our own processes with which we cope and grow.
If you’ve ever been on the DC Metro or any other sort of public transit system, you recognize the peddlers at the entrances trying to whatever they have in stock—food, newspapers, flowers, etc. Their business strategy is understandable: “be in the place with the most traffic and you’re bound to sell something”; yet despite the massive flows of people coming and going, you hardly see people clamoring to buy. Why have you never stopped to buy food or flowers or newspapers? Maybe you really don’t need those things, or maybe you’re in a rush and down have time to slow down.
A similar phenomenon occurs right here in the Stamp Gallery. Although this space is located in the hub of campus life—the Stamp Student Union—our steady flow of visitors pales in comparison to the sheer volume of people who pass through this building. Understandably, not everyone who visits Stamp is looking for a gallery experience, and in fact many passersby are so absorbed in their own goals to take a look inside this space. However, experiencing art is not necessarily pursued, but discovered.
A reenactment of passerbys watching from outside the gallery.
Zoomed.
Our glass walls allow passersby to catch glances of the work hung in the gallery, and over the past few years I’ve seen people stop in their tracks, becoming engrossed in the exhibition from afar. This reaction is particularly visible in our current show, as people stop and stare at Brandon Chambers’ video piece, Reviling of Pleasing Corruptions from beyond the glass. Some of enter the space, others move on, but despite the physical barrier between themselves and the work, they all participate in the experience. For those who say they aren’t interested in art or don’t have enough time, let the artwork catch your eye the next time you walk by the Stamp Gallery; even that fleeting moment of confusion, revulsion, or awe is enough.
Written by Christopher Bugtong.
A Contemporary Art Dedicated Space at the University of Maryland
