WIth Silence Comes Peace

WITH SILENCE COMES PEACE David Brown Anna Fine Foer Kim Manfredi Jo Smail Kurt Steger Stephen Watson

THE SILBER ART GALLERY Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum | Goucher College

“ Most people don’t realize that the mind constantly chatters.

And yet, that chatter winds up being the force that drives us much of the day in terms of what we do, what we react to, and how we feel.”

- Jon Kabat-Zinn

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t appears that we are amidst a mindfulness revolution. Mindful living has become ubiquitous. Its prevalence, extending beyond that of Buddhism and yoga, now includes science, big business, and education. In this increasingly fast-paced and stressful world, it is no wonder more and more people are drawn to the idea of practicing self-awareness—slowing down and purposefully focusing their attention inward on their thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. Numerous studies have shown the many benefits of this contemplative practice. When we choose to live in the moment, we become more aware of our thought processes. This awareness allows us to recognize how often we are pulled away from the here and now, distracted by past regrets and/or worried about future outcomes. Mindfulness meditation helps us consciously choose what to focus on rather than allowing our minds to wander in a welter of directions. It is helpful if we can come from a place of non-judgment; in doing so, our failures become fodder for growth. If we take a moment to just breathe and be in the now, we become more aware of how powerful our thoughts are and just how much they affect our daily lives, not only mentally but physically as well. Our bodies have a tendency to hold emotion as tension, manifesting thoughts as bodily sensation. Focusing on the breath is one way to slow down the internal dialogue and find inner peace. This is not as simple as it sounds, but with daily practice it does become easier.

Parallel to mindful living, most artists view making art as a way of life, a daily practice. Within this practice, emptiness becomes the birthplace of creative potential. There is vulnerability in not knowing what is going to come next, in letting go of outcome, and letting the process unfold naturally and intuitively.

Likewise, repetitive processes become meditative, holding one’s attention and interest to the task at hand, thus fostering focus and intention. Essential to the understanding and appreciating of creative output—regardless of whether you’re making art or viewing it—is present-moment awareness. With Silence Comes Peace offers the audience an opportunity to practice the idea of presentmoment awareness while contemplating the intersection of art and meditation, an opportunity to get lost in a moment of quietude and respite.

— Laura Amussen, curator

David Brown

Silver on Indigo, 2014-15 Enamel paint marker and paint on panel 84” x 237” Courtesy of Goya Contemporary Gallery

In creating his art, David Brown is influenced by the immediate force of shape and color, the “push” of the image. After the initial impact, he draws the viewer in to see the work up close. Differing from traditional minimalism, Brown tries to create a more personal and organic, yet minimalist, image that allows the viewer to experience the process.

Brown believes that when something is created, it is never truly complete until the viewer has participated in the process. During the creation of each piece, he gains the opportunity for personal meditation, and hopes viewers experience it as well.

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Anna Fine Foer

Intelligent Design, 2015 Collage of images of neural networks 26” x 22”

Our brains contain a narrative network that holds vast stores of information about our own and other peoples’ history. When you experience the world using the narrative network, you take in information from the outside world, process it through a filter of what everything means, and add your interpretation. When we perceive a moment in time, it is an unspoken, perceived message that is transmitted nonverbally. Synaptic connections transmit these messages between cells in every area of the brain. Anna Fine Foer’s collage Intelligent Design illustrates the interconnectivity of these transmissions and neural synapses, flowing from one to the other.

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Kim Manfredi

Manikant, 2015 Watercolor and ink on paper 14”x 14”

To Kim Mandfredi, the irony of the drawing process, like the process of practicing posture, illustrates that to get to the goal you must make the work, and making the work is the goal. Drawing calms one’s mind and one’s body. Silence is in the process.

Her unexpected figures and their worlds are inspired by illustrations from a treatise, originally penned in Mysore, India, that is a work on the iconography and iconmetry of divine figures. It includes 122 figures, making it the most comprehensive illustration of postures created before the 21st century.

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Jo Smail

Winks of a Day, 2011 Oil and collage 50�x 40�

Courtesy of Goya Contemporary Gallery

Bare canvas is nothing to Jo Smail. It alludes only to beginnings. Once, she lost all her work in a fire and had to start over. Bare canvas became zero. Walking with her husband one day, she felt the inside of his arm and decided to try to paint that. She was trying to paint love. Bare canvas is love. Once she had a stroke and lost, the ability to speak for a time. Bare canvas is silence.

Like many artists, her work is born from personal experience, but she hopes it becomes more than that. It is up to the viewer to bring his or her own interpretation, and Smail only asks that the viewer ponders without words.

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Kurt Steger

Circle No. 3 (Ouroboros), 2014 Ice made from local water and contaminants, melting and dripping onto rotating paper 20” x 20”

Kurt Steger’s work is a continuous exploration into the aspects of individual and collective primal existence. The works—made of wood, string, paper, and pigments— honor the essence of these simple, earth-based materials. His love for nature and deep concern for the environment pervade his work, which addresses the psychological meltdown that occurs with the extinction of species and the peril of our existence.

By inviting people to sit in a circle and create art, he offers the space to share fears, acknowledge vulnerability, and tap into innate wisdom. He hopes that by bringing nature into an urban environment, he can offer the process of healing, and that we understand that we are not merely collaborating with nature, we are nature.

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Stephen Watson

Location One, Detail, 2014 spices dimensions variable.

Stephen Watson is a multi-disciplinary conceptual sculptor who paints with spices that are visually, texturally, and aromatically enthralling. The powders puff and pile; the herbs whisper and crunch; and their collective fragrance mingles warmly in the air. The spice paintings are delicious, decorative, and alluring ‌ and fragile.

The spices rest loosely on the earth, lowly and vulnerable, consumable by wind and breath, finger and foot. They are earnest reworkings of old clichĂŠs: Watch your step, and stop and smell the roses.

Watson’s work is constructed on site, deteriorates over time, and is disposed of after the exhibition. The concentric designs are his tracks, trail, and scent. They mark places where he sat, worked, created, and believed. They are temporary evidence that he was here and there, and they are precious, physical reminders of the unseen things he hopes to leave behind.

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OCTOBER 27 – DECEMBER 6, 2015 OPENING RECEPTION

Friday, November 20, 6-9 p.m. artists’ talk at 7:30 p.m.

THE SILBER GALLERY

Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum DIRECTIONS

GALLERY HOURS

Baltimore Beltway, I-695, to exit 27A. Make first left onto campus.

11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Tuesday – Sunday 410-337-6477

The exhibit is free and open to the public.

The Silber Gallery program is funded with the assistance of grants from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the state of Maryland and the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Baltimore County Commission on the Arts and Sciences.

goucher.edu/silber 8