Lipscomb's Hutcheson Gallery presents an exhibit by Karen Seapker, Oct. 24-Dec. 9
Lacey Klotz |
Lipscomb University’s John C. Hutcheson Gallery presents “And Most Slow Have I Been,” an exhibition by local artist Karen Seapker, Oct. 24-Dec. 9.
On Monday, Oct. 24, Seapker held an artist talk in the Hutcheson Gallery to describe the inspiration behind her newest collection of paintings. During her lecture she noted that while it is common to see female artists shy away from personal narrative and emotions to combat stereotypes rooted in sexism, she was inspired by her own emotions brought up by having her first child and expecting her second.
Seapker's previous works have been centered on ideas of rebirth and renewal, and are an ode to author Virginia Woolf's prose. Seapker's latest collection, however, was inspired by Woolfe's suicide and how she filled her pockets with stones and walked into water. Throughout what she calls her "rockstacking images," Seapker takes those stones and turns them from symbols of death into symbols of life markers. Within a three-year creative process, Seapker says she realized the delicate balance of motherhood and began abstracting those figures and themes throughout her paintings as well.
Seapker’s collection is built on themes of balance, building tension and suspense as well as interdependency from the rockstack paintings, and combined with strong forefront brush strokes that seem to slow down time and represent the confinements of motherhood.
A native of Nashville, Seapker received her MFA in 2009 from Hunter College in New York City. She has exhibited her work in group shows in various cities including New York, London and Shanghai, and has also participated in the Pittsburgh Biennial at the Andy Warhol Museum. Seapker has worked as an adjunct professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and as a sabbatical replacement at Farleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey. She is currently a part of Coop Gallery, a curatorial collective in Nashville.
Located in the James D. Hughes Center at Lipscomb University, the John C. Hutcheson Gallery opened in fall of 2010. Curated by Lipscomb visual arts department faculty, the Hutcheson Gallery features a variety of exhibitions each semester. The gallery provides an opportunity to study, exhibit and stimulate appreciation for and advance knowledge of works of art that collectively represent the broadest spectrum of human achievement and artistic interests.
The Hutcheson Gallery is free and open to the public. The exhibit will be open Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., however, hours may vary during scheduled events. The Hutcheson Gallery is best accessible from the Belmont Boulevard entrances to campus.
For more information on Karen Seapker visit: www.karenseapker.com.