O’Quinn and Whitehead present social issues in art

The senior art exhibits continued with the works of Margaret O’Quinn and Donald Whitehead.

The exhibits were featured in Blackbridge Hall Gallery April 4 through April 8. O’Quinn’s exhibit was called “Architecture of the Mind: Representing Patterns of Consciousness” and Whitehead’s exhibit was titled “Plants and Burials.”

“Our minds are constantly bombarded with information, emotions, and sensorial stimulus,” O’Quinn wrote in her artist’s statement. “Whe-ther we realize it or not, any given point in time our subconscious is balancing numerous thoughts and patterns of attention.”

The canvases O’Quinn uses represent the pattern of the mind through the use of silk screen and acrylic paint.

“By screening and painting layer after layer, I have taken this idea of how the mind functions and put it down on canvas,” O’Quinn said. “The overlay of stimulus running rampant in the mind is shown with a multitude of imagery and text.”

O’Quinn said that her exhibition focuses on the pattern of the mind, while each individual piece revolves around a particular idea in her personal life during the time of making.

“Some of the pieces involve more weighted issues such as religion, politics, and relationships, while others are simply influenced by my own daily interests,” O’Quinn said.

Whitehead says that his exhibit uses his experience with bipolar disorder as a lens to talk about and confront the way society deals with the mentally ill.

“The digital medium provides an appropriate vessel for the ideas of Plants and Burials, as I am able to manipulate and enhance images to offer a more concise depiction of the world as I know it,” Whitehead said.

Whitehead’s large video piece, “November 14″ explores his first bout with mania. He said the saturation of the video has been distorted to convey the intensity and force of the manic experience. The audio portion of “November 14″ is collected from interviews with family members and friends about the events surrounding his first manic episode.

The hope of the “Plants and Burials” exhibit is to relocate mental illness within context.

“I would like people to concentrate on the positive aspects of neurosis, and how different perceptions do not always equal a danger to society,” Whitehead said. “Often, the traits associated with mental illness are some of the main pillars of diversity within a community, such as creativity and spirituality. Unfortunately, many people with a mental illness have no access to treatment or advice on how to control their condition. I believe the first step in changing this is through dialogue.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 15 2005. Filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry