Senior showcases art in Weber Gallery
0By Abigail Gibson
The Weber Art Gallery features the work of Senior, Allyson Gibson this month.
“Art is my burning passion and without it, I feel empty; like a void that needs to be filled. Creating and learning about art is one way for me to escape from reality and become truly focused on the respect for art and also the action of making art through the use of lines, sculpting, mark making, and the planning process. Creating an artwork is centered on focus, drive, and the inspiration to create something that has meaning. Discovering myself through art has allowed me to grow in discovering the style of art I create and also admire. Also, learning different styles of art has helped me to discover parts of myself,” said Gibson.
Gibson’s mother has always encouraged her to be creative and to express herself through discovering nature and exploring.
“This learning has led to realizing many new outlooks in my life. Growing up, I always dressed myself and have chosen my own unique style. I feel as if my exploration of art began with mismatched shoes and mismatched socks at 5 years old. I then continued to wear bright neon plaid skinny jeans with very expressive makeup in high school. I have grown dramatically through the influence of Ms. Kowalok and Ms. Carroll; I have always put limitations on myself for what I can and cannot create when exploring different styles of art. Even though I truly know that the sky is the limit, I used to still hold myself back on what I could or could not do. I have to thank my Mom, Pat, and Petra for encouraging me to broaden my knowledge and capabilities,” said Gibson.
Gibson’s style and growth of work can be compared to Degas’ use of color and his attention to natural light.
“Degas’ attention to movement of forms is also interesting to me because I can compare the idea of movement throughout several of my works,” said Gibson.
Some things Gibson strives for in her works are experimenting with uses of colors and variation of colors on surfaces to learn how the colors, movement, and textures can relate and transform a surface.
“I have learned to be bold and to take risks; in the end, it’s expression. I have been able to do this by expanding to two-dimensional surfaces (Bristol board, watercolor paper, weighted paper, and canvas) to also applying color onto three-dimensional surfaces (canvas, weighted paper, paper mache, and found objects),”said Gibson.
“Looking through the network I have made throughout my college career, it is fascinating to see the repeated use of the color red across various surfaces. I have unconsciously used red in the sunsets I have painted, through the thread I have bound my shoes sculpture, Stereotype, the red twine I used to bind the sticks of wood together in my sculpture, Nose, the pomegranate series of work displays the red fruit and also the different ways I depicted the fruit. Red is also present in the reproduction work from Georgia O’Keeffe’s painting, Trees, the matches that I painted with red glitter on the body scarf, and also in the body movement sculpture, Meditate,” said Gibson.
Red is the color at the end of the spectrum of visible light and is related to dynamism and active movement. In ancient Rome, red symbolized blood and courage. Since red is a warm color and the color of blood, it has been associated with passion, violence, sexuality, fire, anger, love, and blood. It is interesting to consider the symbolism of the color and how Gibson used it throughout her work.