Fall is upon us and we are surrounded by rusty oranges, flaming reds, subtle yellows and chocolatey browns. While I adore fall, it still leaves me wanting the luscious color of green. Green is my favorite color in all shades and kinds: olive, sage, kelly, hunter and especially grassy green after a nice rain. I was excited and surprised to find that exact grassy green in an art exhibit. Located in the Class of 1925 gallery in Memorial Union, the grand opening of “Naturealism" was Oct. 21. This exhibit focuses on domestic space, particularly the vibrancy of the backyard. The artist, Rebecca Hamlin Green, (with such an ironically appropriate name) is an art professor at Brescia University in Kentucky. Her main focus is on ceramics, but she also works with watercolor, found objects, drawing, collages and printmaking. In this particular exhibit, she used her wide array of skills to incorporate live grass, porcelain, found objects, lights and heirloom rugs into quite a presentation.
I had the opportunity to meet Green and discuss the motives behind her work. In explaining a particular piece, she stated, “A recurring theme in my work is to use dogs as surrogates for myself and my emotions.” This piece has two dogs, each of which is on their own 5”x5” square of grass resting on a large rug. This piece was one of my favorites as it made me laugh. Anyone who has owned a dog has come home to find a surprise on the floor, at least once, which is often followed by swearing and a gross cleanup. To have the dogs both on the rug, but floating on their very own island of grass was hilarious. At the same time, she enveloped meaning into each dog’s space within the home. Each dog’s face was covered with a lamp shade spotlighting what they desired; one looked at a framed portion of grass on the wall while the other looked at a separate framed piece of carpet far from him. They both were seeking more, even though they were close enough to have all they wanted either under their feet or a step away. This made me reflect upon my own life and wonder whether I am blind to many of the gifts in my life that I am surrounded by, but don’t recognize.
Green was very clear that her ultimate goal is to “evaluate how we form our identities with what items we surround ourselves with.” The dogs were surrounded with good fortune, carpet and grass close enough to fulfill any need, but still looked beyond for more. It is unique that a piece of art can make me chuckle while in such deep thought.
While I was impressed by Green’s thought behind the piece, I was less impressed with the execution. The element of light that targeted the desires of each dog was a nice touch, but I was distracted and frustrated by the crisscrossing of power cords littered around the floor and on top of the art. I acknowledge that working in a gallery setting often has its limitations, but I would have liked to see more care and attention to detail. At the very least, I would have appreciated more concealing of the wires when resting on top of the art pieces. This took away from the show as a whole, but I nonetheless still encourage students to see the gallery and take time to reflect upon the gifts in their own lives.
