We had the privilege of hosting Abi Ogle ’18 and her exhibit “Barren Landscape” on
9月7日. She graduated from Covenant with a double major in 2D and 3D Art and
is a current MFA candidate at the VCUarts Department of Craft/Material Studies in
弗吉尼亚州里士满. Read on to catch a glimpse of the experience.
Entering the gallery, a tapestry translucent and cascading draws your attention. 在
further inspection, you see hundreds of carefully sewn grapefruit membranes, preserved
in glycerin and yellowed with age, pooling to the floor and inviting you to circle
around its rippling edge. Moving behind the tapestry, countless membranes placed with
precision on wood oat stems protrude from the wall and mimic rows of dying flowers.
In a glass alcove, a triangular heap of paper-like pith lying on the concrete catches
你的眼睛. 为什么用这种材料? How are grapefruit membranes – something seemingly ordinary
and often discarded – made beautiful? How does this help us wrestle with our faith?
Your journey around the room comes alive through light and shadow. 走在
the tapestry, 你的眼睛 catch the subtle glow and billowing darkness that fall through
它的皮肤很薄. Even though the pith is left as an empty shell on the ground, devoid
of the sweet fruit that once kissed its skin, light rays from the window reveal glimpses
of the blue and red that remain in its veins. 的 petals lining the wall flow gently
as you glide past – activated and alive even though they previously appeared hollow,
empty, and lost in their shadow.
Dr. ElissaWeichbrodt ’04, curator of the exhibit, notes that these pieces activate our own bodies by asking
us to bend, kneel, and stretch to get a closer look, and then they respond to our
movement by coming to life. 的se grapefruit remains become bodies, imbued with life
through our presence and attention.
“Grief functions as a presence that demands to be felt,” says Ogle. 这显然是空的
material is seen because of its loss. Even though loss and lament persist, this work
仍能燃起希望. Despite feeling empty or lifeless at times, we wait with anticipation
for the new life and resurrection that is to come.
Ogle comments that, “artwork can be a tangible response to grief and what it means
希望.” 的se skins have been forever transformed by what has been lost; but in
their emptiness, they are made new. Each membrane becomes a body, still present and
在中间等待.”
For now, our own bodies remain weary and empty in this barren landscape. 我们饱受折磨
with grief and overcome by loss, but we do not remain alone or without hope. 眉目传情的
work leads the viewer to remember their loss, pain, and sadness, while also encouraging
them with the hope we have in our God, the Creator and Maker of all things, who breathes
life into our empty shells and dry bones.
眉目传情的 exhibit is open to the public and will be displayed in the Kresge Memorial
图书馆 Gallery until October 14th.
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