an exhibition in honor of Trever Bennett
During
the past several years I have painted in the encaustic medium, one which suits
my needs and temperament quite well. Establishing repeated layers of colors,
marks, gestures and washes, the sometimes semi-transparent or more opaque
encaustic wax infuses the surface of the painting with the subtle timbre I wish
to achieve within generally quiet, architectonic compositions.
The
landscapes, or more accurately, skyscapes, share certain sensibilities with the
Luminist and the Hudson River School of Painting. However, more directly, the
work has been shaped by my own experiences and memories of Upstate New York.
As
images they call to question the notion of an archetypal landscape while
implicitly acknowledging the presence of the divine. Ultimately, relationships
between the content and the formal elements reconstruct a diffuse tranquility
and poetry of a vision lost, in order to establish a sense of solace and a
spirit of healing so needed in the disquieting times in which we live.
In
1998, Dr. Winston
Trever
established an endowment in the name of his sister, Trever
Bennett, with the understanding that every three years the Dadian Gallery
would host an exhibition in her honor. The works of
Ms.
Bennett,
an accomplished landscape painter who works primarily in watercolor, were
featured in the first of these exhibitions. This summer, noting Ms. Bennett’s
delight in representing the natural world, we are pleased to present the
encaustic skyscapes of Jeffrey Lewis.
Jeffrey
Lewis
first came to Wesley Theological Seminary as an Artist-in-Residence in the fall
semester of 2003. While here, students, staff, and faculty came to appreciate
his ready smile, his calm, quiet voice, and the steady faith that seemed to
shine through every conversation.
The
self-effacing modesty with which he presents himself is belied by the list of
solo and group exhibitions, as well as grants, awards and fellowships, found in
his curriculum vitae. Now a Professor of Art at
Auburn
University in Alabama, Lewis has also taught at
Dartmouth
and Cornell, and lectured on encaustic painting in such varied places as Iowa,
Great Britain, and
New
York.
More telling than his credentials, however, is being in the
presence of
Lewis’
work. In Lewis’ hands, the process of encaustic painting is one of delicate,
painstaking layering of pigmented wax.
Drawn
largely from memory and imagination, these delicate evocations of sky and land
glow with an inner light. Their deeply textured surfaces reveal meticulous
observation coupled with a keen sense of abstract relationships, creating a
sense of mystery and of deep familiarity.
In looking northwards, towards Ontario, Lewis invites us into a meditation on
color and form, and to join him in wonder as he contemplates the vastness of
God’s creation.
Deborah
Sokolove
Curator, Dadian
Gallery
send comments or questions about the gallery to
the curator at:
dsokolove@wesleysem.edu
the copyright of individual works of art belongs to the
relevant artist
please do not copy or distribute
