Three alumni of different decades are being featured this month at the Area Gallery in Portland’s Woodbury Campus Center. The show, “Drawn to Abstraction,” features various levels of abstract art.
Featured are Wolcott Dodge, ’86, Sean Hasey, ’97, and Ryan Wight ’07.
“We try to do alumni shows every few years to keep in touch with and support our alumni,” said Carolyn Eyler, director of exhibitions and programs for the Art Department.
Dodge’s fifteen paintings/collages were inspired from the geometric designs of mass-produced flooring. His own designs are often combined with real floor coverings as he explores the relationships between the unique and ordinary.
“I find I like the idea that the viewer experiences the various elements of the piece in succession, seemingly across time,” he said of the result. Dodge currently lives in Portland and earned his MFA at Vermont College.
Hasey focuses his work on a set of knives. Seen throughout his paintings are the knives, often loosely represented and very gesture-like creating a tension within the canvas space.
“By embracing the certainty of uncertainty I find my life beginning to take shape,” he said, “and within this paradox I find my arts begin to flourish.” Hasey has recently moved back to Portland from New York City.
Wight uses a mixture of sand, dirt and paint as he explores the natural relationships of gravity, reproduction and lineage. “The shapes and colors I use are developed from studies on organic materials surrounding me; plants, and animals are a few of my studied subjects,” he said.
After graduation Wight was selected for a Monhegan Artist’s Residency. The works shown at the Area Gallery were conceptualized during his stay on the island. Since then Wight has worked as a carpenter as he continues his art.
His advice to graduating students is that “it’s just really important to just have a space where you can focus on your work, especially when you’re on your own time.”
Drawn to Abstraction is up until Monday, May 4th.