This week we traveled to Columbus, Ohio. I had lived there for over 17 years, and the area is familiar to me. It remains rich with memories. While there, we stopped in to visit The Oak Room Gallery, located in the Short North Area.
The rain was coming down in buckets...there were few people in sight. The upside of that is parking was easy to find.
We arrived early, so we had the Gallery to ourselves.
Adam Kiger's Art is there on display until the end of March. His Artwork consisted of multiple pieces on canvas using Acrylics and Charcoal. Except for one piece, they were created with a myriad of shades in black and white.
Seeing Artwork in a photograph truly cannot convey the experience of standing in front of the actual piece. The size, the subtle lines, the shapes, the details. The reality of being with the Artwork. Seeing it and Feeling it.
I took several pictures with my camera. Not so much as to photograph the Artwork as to capture being there with it. I stood before each piece, seeing it with my own Artist eyes, feeling it in my own way. I enjoyed learning about it from the Artists perspective as I read his accompanying written information, including the title, of each piece of Art.
My thoughts and feelings combined to define my own interpretation of each piece.
I thought about how each empty canvas begins horizontally, stretched to fit a wooden frame....then transformed into a vertical work of Art. How creating is a means to an end....one piece at a time...like stepping stones of yesterday that build a path into tomorrow. I took this picture.
One of the pieces, titled "Eventually", drew me back again and again.
It was as if it were the only picture in the Gallery. I felt loss, love, and hope. I saw pure innocence. I had the sense that they were in this together, and so was I. I heard the struggles of communication. I saw how closely entwined are the actions of despair with the actions of affection.
I reflected on my own experiences that are similar. That have been similar. That will be similar.
Websters defines Artwork as ".. a painting, sculpture, photograph, etc., that is created to be
beautiful or to express an important idea or feeling : an artistic work.."
To me, Adam's Artwork expresses many ideas and feelings. And that is what makes it beautiful.
