Article from:
Dozens of colorful paintings by three University of Tennessee students will cover the white walls of Gallery 1010, UT’s student-run art gallery located in downtown Knoxville, on Friday, Sept. 5, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The upcoming exhibit, titled “Timeless,” will showcase the work of School of Art seniors Lili Call, Julia Johnson and Iris Love. Exploring themes of memory, place and time, the group show includes mixed-media paintings depicting the artists’ personal experiences and histories.
Though each of the artists focused on illustrating different experiences and important moments in their lives, their works are tied together by the common theme of the deep feelings that surround past experiences from a retrospective point of view.
“I think that looking at all of our art, (viewers) will take away a feeling of nostalgia, even if it’s something they haven’t experienced,” Call said.
Call’s oil paintings focus heavily on her time studying abroad in Italy. The pieces — which illustrate various Italian canals, buildings and pathways — communicate the nostalgia of her travels in a way that differs from photos.
“Especially in paintings, the way that people capture a single moment is different from a picture,” Call said. “You can tell there’s an action happening there.”
Johnson shared a similar sentiment, noting the effect of the work that goes into the paintings on viewers. Knowing about the hands-on process of making the painting, Johnson says, is a large part of what makes art emotionally impactful.
“The main point for us is just for them to see the love poured into these paintings and our experiences,” Johnson said. “And hopefully they get something out of it.”
Like Call’s pieces, Johnson’s paintings and textile works include memories of traveling and living in different places. From Knoxville, to Wyoming, to Puerto Rico, her paintings offer a scrapbook-like view of her life that is deeply personal to her.
Love’s work — on the other hand — is highly reflective of her childhood as opposed to her recent experiences. Her childhood home and the forests of summer camp are common settings in her art. Many of her pieces are a collage of two distinct paintings, separated by a gold frame, where the paintings are divided.
“A lot of my work for this exhibit, and this show, is based around the idea of having two paintings on the same canvas,” Love said.
Having two differentiable paintings on the same work allows Love to approach a subject from two perspectives, which work together to tell the full story.
Along with the artists’ specific intent for the exhibit to spark feelings of peace and nostalgia for viewers, the three also share the broader goal of increasing UT art students’ knowledge of their opportunities in Knoxville.
“The gallery is a very cool privilege that our students have,” Call said. “It’s pretty cool that we get a free place to show our art and interact with the Knoxville art community, and that community both on-campus and off-campus is pretty big.”
Johnson, too, pointed out the wide accessibility that art students have to professional opportunities, emphasizing the fact that artists can still be in college while also working towards their professional careers.
“I think just being brave and putting yourself out there is important,” Johnson said.
In addition to encouraging art students to get involved, the artists wish to increase overall student engagement in the Knoxville art scene.
Love said there are plenty of opportunities on campus for non-art students to get involved creatively. Many introductory art classes, for example, are open to all students — regardless of major. For those without the space in their schedules for an art class, Knoxville’s First Friday events downtown offer students chances to immerse themselves in local art, music and other forms of creative media just blocks from campus.
“I think that a lot of people don’t really know that Knoxville has such a great art scene,” Love said. “But it really does.”