BETHANY PILLOW | staff writer
 |
|
courtesy of Tommy Coppers
|
| Each painting came complete with a specially-designed hymn book with the score and text of the song that inspired it. |
|
The air reverberated with sound and excitement as people filed into the Duke Art Gallery on Tuesday, Feb. 10 for the debut of the latest exhibit.
Welcoming them at the door was the music of sophomore studio art major Becca Tomasko, whose fingers glided across the strings of a cello, the fluid vibrations of the strings beckoning guests to enter into the creative world before them. The sound of ancient hymns both familiar and forgotten mixed with the scent of spiced candles, a fitting atmosphere to engage with the series of paintings displayed throughout the room—each inspired by one of these same sacred melodies.
This is exactly what senior graphic design major Ashley Geiger intended for her audience to experience upon entering “Reverberations: Thou & I,” the exhibit she designed with them in mind.
Her aim for the past year has been to open up the creative process to the average person; to make art that is accessible to non-art makers. Far from being simplified or toned down, Geiger’s art brims with texture, form, color and countless other artistic elements working together to give “newcomers” every medium possible to enter into what the work has to say.
The works themselves are representations of the faith concepts found in a particular hymn, ranging from pain, doubt to peace, hope, people’s relations to one another and their expectations of the divine.
Each painting came complete with a specially-designed hymn book with the score and text of the song that inspired it, set in the wall in wooden, back-of-the-pew style compartments.
As a whole, the works embodied the longing for connection Geiger believes is prominent in the hymns.
Passed down through generations of saints, they transcend time and culture, connecting believers throughout history with one another as well as the God they seek to know and be known by.
Her efforts to convey this theme of connection to her audience were not lost on the night’s viewers.
“When I look at each of these paintings, I feel I really know where they are coming from,” alumna Kristi Scott said. “It expresses such a deep emotion, the kind you can’t express in any other way than through art.”
According to her mother, when asked about a painting, Geiger will only reveal what she used in it if someone guesses it correctly. When questioned about this, Geiger responded that mystery in art is a good thing.
“The thing is, when you know it’s glue sticks, you see glue sticks, and you don’t come any further into the story that’s being told,” Geiger said. “I don’t mean that art shouldn’t have anything to say to you—it should. But there are also good things to keep hidden, to wonder about. I mean, so much of God is mystery.”
This only encouraged viewers to look closer and search out meaning for themselves.
“There’s always something in the details,” alumna Megan Klingensmith said. “I was Ashley’s alpha leader and loved seeing her art even then. I was always telling her, ‘Someday I’m going to come to one of your art shows and buy one of your paintings.’ And here I am.”
The process of pricing and parting with her art, Geiger acknowledged, was a difficult one.
“I didn’t know where to start, so I called an art professor for help. They are all worth so much to me; it is really hard to let them go,” Geiger said.
But go they did, with the exception of two favorites: Mid All the Traffic of the Ways and His Eye Is On the Sparrow. These she kept, mementos of a process that began nearly a year earlier with the brushstrokes of her very first abstraction.
This week marks the culmination of that process as the works are sent off into the homes and lives of others with Geiger’s hopes that they will continue, from time to time, to impact and inspire their new owners.
