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By Hannah Pittard Savannah College of Art and Design illustration graduate student Megan Kimber named her exhibition of classic short story illustrations after the town in which she grew up: Hopewell Junction, N.Y. "I don't think I appreciated themeaning of the word until recently," Kimber said. "There is a dual significance. It was when I was growing up in Hopewell that I learned the children's rhymes to the four pieces I did specifically for my thesis. I also want the word to be literally applied to the show - to 'hope well.'" According to Kimber, her exhibition includes several "spooky, shadowy" images, but she's reluctant for audiences to associate her work entirely with darkness. "Things in this world can be scary as hell or at least perceived that way without reason, but there is still a beauty to that intensity. You can still have hope throughout it all. Hope is so important and sometimes so slippery to hold onto, but I want it to always be there." All of the 11 pieces on display illustrate classic rhymes, fairy tales and hand-clapping games. "It amazes me how bizarre some of the children's rhymes are that we have grown up with for 100 or more years," said Kimber. "Some of the words/lyrics are downright evil or brutal and not something you would normally consider suitable for children to hear. Yet they just sing and shout the lyrics with such joy and oblivion - it's very odd and fascinating from a psychological standpoint … I have seen some early 1900s illustrators portray the spookiness very well, and I wanted to continue in that sort of realistic portrayal - no sugar coating." To help bring these stories to life, Kimber said she researched children's tales and traditional rhymes, not always prepared for what she would find. "Some of them have pretty sketchy meanings or origins," she said. Kimber, who said she isn't happy unless her paintings reflect the true color of moodiness, said, "Pictures enhance words because so many of us will get a more emotional reaction to pictures than to words. It adds spice. It's like surround sound - being able to read and be surrounded by the images at the same time. People love over-stimulation." "Hopewell" is on display at The StarLander CoffeeHouse and Gallery, 11 E. 41st St., though March 29.
By Hannah Pittard Jon Michael Riley's "Irish Pilgrimage," a loving and introspective homage to Ireland on display at the Savannah College of Art and Design's Bergen Hall, was inspired in part by a desire to trace family roots and to investigate the realities of Irish history and culture. Each photograph speaks of both Ireland's seemingly inexplicable power and Riley's fascination with that power. On his Web site, www.irishimage.com, Riley divides his collection of Irish photographs into chapters: "Artifacts and Metaphors," "The Breathing Stones," "Walking in Thin Places," "Joy at Random" and "Walking with Angles." The first chapter, "Artifacts and Metaphors," features those small details, those half moments, in which statues seem only momentarily asleep, chairs seem soon to be occupied, rooms seem impossibly quiet and doorways hold a promise of things to come. "Walking in Thin Places" pays homage to the landscape of Ireland, while "Joy at Random" pays homage to its people. "Dancing with Angles" includes photographs of everything else - from a grandfather clock to a sunlit harbor to a crowded cemetery. A selection from each of his chapters is on display at Bergen Hall though March 28. Riley's daughter, Gillian Riley, graduated from SCAD in 1997 with a B.F.A. in painting. "Irish Pilgrimage: The Photographs of Jon Michael Riley" is on display at Bergen Hall Gallery, 101 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., through March 28. A reception in conjunction with the college's monthly gallery hop will be held March 5, 5-7 p.m. |
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