This exhibit was my senior thesis. This exhibit featured art inspired by the geological phenomenon of the Parowan Gap which is a canyon and passage through the Red Hills west of Parowan Valley where the sun sets perfectly in the juncture of the canyon at both the summer and winter solstice.
The challenge of this exhibit was to feature both poetry and art in the same space. I wanted each experience, the act of reading and the act of looking, to be separate. Our campus gallery is divided into two rooms and I chose to interpret the poetry through lighting. I printed the poetry on vellum, then strung up a series of back-lighting and hung the poems roughly 18 inches from the wall. When the lights were dimly lit, it produced the effect that the poems were emanating light; almost as if they were their own petroglyphs on a fire-lit cave wall.
This exhibit was given entirely to me including budget, time frame, design, lighting and reception. It was an incredible experience to produce a show from its genesis to its opening. I became more sensitive to the money I was spending, the placement of the art for maximum impact, highlighting the poetry without detracting from the art. Lighting, for me, will always be key in expressing the true impact of art. I approach an exhibit always with the mind of keeping the light as minimal as possible. As a child, and even in my adult years, low lighting is how I best concentrate while reading. I take that principle with me to the study of art in a gallery space.
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