January Issue 2001
Davidson County Community College in Lexington, NC, Offers New Exhibition
Davidson County Community College in Lexington, NC, in collaboration with Arts United of Davidson County, will present the exhibit, Color Meets Form, beginning on Jan. 16, and continuing through mid-May.
Work by the following eight artists will be featured: sculptor Jonathan Dawes of Chocowinity, NC; Jennifer Edwards, who paints in pastels and watercolor, of Winston-Salem, NC; painter Justine P. Linville, who specializes in oils, of Winston-Salem, NC; Molly Lithgo, who works in colored pencil and ceramic sculptural pitcher forms, of Greensboro, NC; Pac McLaurin, a photographer specializing in black and white photography, of Banner Elk, NC; Elsie Dinsmore Popkin of Winston-Salem, NC, who paints in pastels; J. Michael Simpson, who specializes in oil and watercolor/gouache/acrylic, of Rock Hill, SC; and Norma Suddreth, whose artwork is in watercolor and dyes on handmade paper, of Lenoir, NC.
"Life is a carnival," states artist Jonathan Dawes, leaving interpretation of his sculptural work up to the viewer. Most selections in the exhibition are completely abstract; those with recognizable forms are expressively executed. Dawes works mostly in bronze, aluminum and steel to create his sculptures.
Jennifer Edwards says that she is "inebriated by rich, full color. I'm transported to other worlds by shape, form and line." The beauty of the natural world around her is the subject matter of her watercolors and pastels. She seeks to kindle the same passion in the viewer that she herself feels from the landscape.
In her oil paintings, Justine P. Linville is interested in discovering colors as they appear in nature and the effect achieved in the juxtaposition of various hues. Preferring to work from life, her motivation for subject matter is often expressed by painting a series of works with a central theme, explored with a variety of different but related compositions.
Color is a major element in all of Molly Lithgo's work. The most recent of her colored pencil works focuses on mood, tone and emotion, all of which are influenced by the color relationships chosen in each piece. Viewers can relate to the universal ideas of personal connection to place and influence of environment in her landscapes and drawings of natural objects. Color is also a main consideration in her hand built and wheel thrown ceramic sculptural pitcher forms.
Pac McLaurin says that "the single most important influence on me and my photography has been that of my wife. She is an artist and has encouraged me at every step of the way." McLaurin's black and white photos resulted from a visit to Havana, Cuba last spring. These images were all obtained in and around Havana and document the people and their environment.
Elsie Dinsmore Popkin does not feel as if she has really seen a place unless she has drawn it. "I try to do the entire (pastel) painting on site, so that I can try to match the brilliant and subtle colors of nature and feel the air and light of that particular place as I work," she says. Her work enables her to travel to interesting places, from the gardens of NC to the parks in Chile or France, where she can "...immerse myself in their beauty as I work at doing what I love."
The landscape paintings by J. Michael Simpson explore the sublime, a positive connection between nature and human kind. He thinks of it, whether in art or nature, as moments that can lift the human mind from a sense of awe to glimpses of wisdom and inspiration. His large-scale oil paintings depict abstracted images of turbulent rivers and rocky terrain. His limited and sometimes monochrome palettes of intense reds, blues or yellows create haunting auras about each piece. Simpson also will display mixed water media works done in watercolor, gouache and acrylic.
Norma Suddreth considers research - the gathering of fibers, making the pulp, and creating the piece itself - all equally important in her handmade paper works. She uses a two thousand year old process to produce an art medium from native plants that she grows or gathers. Colors are obtained only from natural fibers or with aqueous pigments. "I focus on acts of goodness, honesty and beauty in nature," she says. Her art often relates to her travels or research.
For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings or contact the Corporate and Community Relations Office at Davidson County Community College, 336/249-8186, ext. 239 or visit their web site at (http://www.davidson.cc.nc.us).
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