Transitions: Point A to Point B

acrylic

Life is full of countless transitions from one point to another.  These periods of passage can be experienced many ways including but not limited to; physical, emotional, and spiritual means and countless times within a day through our thoughts and feelings.

Work for this exhibition began as a commentary on the experiences of physical transitions in space.  I contemplated questions including, “What are the most traveled paths my body takes from point A to point B?”  What are the most significant passages I make?”  In reflecting, I was also drawn to the significance of “place,” contrasting my childhood home in Clyde, Kansas with my current home in Topeka, Kansas, and the impact those two places have had on who I am today.  

The two-hour drive between Topeka and Clyde has been a well-traveled path over the last 15 years.  The journey from point A to point B is a near meditative experience, full of many views I have enjoyed passing by over the years.  Making the trek is a welcomed voyage of familiarity; old and new.  The transition between the two places and the work before you are symbolic in terms of the similarities and differences between who I was and who I have become.  Each work in the show has two horizontal bands of gradient color which represent these transitions between the past (top/muted color gradations) and present (bottom/brighter color gradations).  They overlap spatially (vertically) and fade, symbolizing the connections we have with place, our past, our present and their connection to the passage of time.

As a high school teacher, I have the privilege of working with some of the most talented students in our region. Nineteen of them were recently invited to be a part of an art lock-in at the Stephen Smith Gallery.  Each participant created two works that signify their interpretation of the show theme, “Transitions: Point A to Point B.”  Our work combines to create a themed group exhibition.