Saturday, November 22, 2008

Tim Wight's Ever-Evolving Art

Walking into the main hall of the Maves Art Center, you’ll notice the interestingly complex ceramic sculptures done by GC alumnus Tim Wight. Wight has expressed his extreme gratitude towards the college for letting him put on his third show.
With the main theme dealing with the issues of space, mostly internal to external, many of the pieces in Wight’s show expressions of exuberant contortions that are far from lackadaisical.
Wight graduated in 2000 and has been working at Kaskaskia College for the past six years. Working primarily with ceramics, he started preparing for the exhibit at the beginning of second semester last year to create all the pieces. In order to make sure his sculpting is exactly what he has in mind, he first begins with a preliminary drawing, and then starts the long process of forming the piece. If the piece isn’t in accordance with the drawing, he hits the sketchbook to redirect his thoughts into what the piece is becoming.
Wight cites Henry Moore and Barbra Hempworth as his primary influences. Both Moor and Hempworth have biomorphic forms present in their work. Wight has taken his art a step further by pushing into the recesses of internal forms.
In his statement at the exhibit, he expresses: “The internal causes can be linked to many different conceptual approaches to art and life, but the best progression, I understand, is the internal evolves the external to become much more than what it was before, to make new an old stagnant form.”
The idea of an ever-evolving world presents itself over and over in Wight’s art, continually reminding us that we should never get too comfortable with our current surroundings. Society, people, and our physical world are constantly changing. With these changes, we can either adapt to or reject outer influences.
When asked about his feelings for the exhibit, he replied, “The show has been really fun, but at the same time, stressful. It’s always hard having your pieces leave the comfort of your cluttered studio to be placed on a pedestal for the world to see and perhaps criticize. However, working with Steve Heilmer [Head of the Art Department] has been really helpful because he criticizes when needed and helps me work through the process of formation.”
The exhibit will be up until the November 22 and is completely free, so hurry, GC students, and be sure to make your way over to the art building to see the masterminded work of Tim Wight.
London Novak, Junior

No comments: