As the semester came to a halt, student-run Bates Gallery prepared the last of a few exhibits to close out on. One of these shows belonged to graduate student Jennifer Murray's thesis presentation, which ran in the gallery from April 6-15. The reception was held April 8.
The show was inspired by scenes from Murray's childhood and youth, recorded ever so vividly in her paintings that were displayed. Murray, who earned her undergraduate degree - a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from Western Washington University - "lived in Seattle (for) 25 years before moving to Edinboro for grad school."
"I missed the landscape especially," she said in an interview. "It was a little bit of a culture shock moving from the other side of the country. You start realizing differences and realizing that your memories are unique in a way you hadn't previously thought. I also felt more removed from my childhood home, knowing you can never go back to a certain place in time is even more obvious when you physically can't go back there."
The longing she speaks of was something visible in her paintings, despite their bright colors and beautiful scenery, depicting various abstract aspects, which may or may not have been identifiable as intrinsically from the northwestern side of the States.
"I think the idea of having these places (their sensations at least) around me was the reason for making them," Murray explained. "Surrounding myself with these memory-places is an archiving process, but it's also about giving them a physical place in the real world. They exist as objects now."
She spoke of her connection to certain pieces and what drew her to create them, initially.
"The pieces that I feel most connected to are the ones that express a certain moody atmosphere, a sensation of a certain time of day. For example, dusk, without being too obvious of a landscape. I definitely use a structure of landscape and I use references to horizons, forests, bodies of water to organize the piece," she said of this. "Otherwise it would fall apart as random mark-making."
Murray's objective, as she reflected upon it, was to construct "a sense of realism (into) my work without necessarily being representational."
She then takes a daring approach: "but I also allow for things to not make complete sense." She summed it up in saying: "I want to create a somewhat imaginative world where you could come and explore."
Indeed, those that were lucky enough to view the gallery were enticed into that "imaginative world," like Alices down the rabbithole. If you could not count yourself among them, you can view her art at her Web site, www.jenniferlmurray.com.
Murray plans to work and live in Pittsburgh after earning her graduate degree.
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