Liminal Sustenance
November 10 – 14, 2014
Artist Lectures: Wednesday, November 12, 2 p.m.
Artist Reception: Friday, November 14, 6 – 8 p.m.
Lee Gallery, 1-100 Lee Hall
Clemson – The Lee Gallery at Clemson University Center for Visual Arts is hosting a new exhibit “Liminal Sustenance” currently on display until this Friday, November 14. The exhibit showcases the work of two MFA thesis candidates from the Department of Art Ceramics program. A public lecture is scheduled to take place Wednesday, November 12 at 2:30 p.m. with both artists giving a ten-minute creative research presentation on the development of their works. A reception for the artists will take place Friday, November 14, 6 – 8 p.m.
Websters dictionary defines liminal as “of or relating to a sensory threshold” and sustenance as “something (such as food) that keeps someone or something alive.” These two words combined as the exhibition title Liminal Sustenance refers to the viewers experience when assimilating this ephemeral, textual and tactile exhibition.
Brent Pafford’s work incorporates art, craft, and design celebrating objects’ potency in daily life. Through the ruminative process of creating, his objects remain earnest and honest, maintaining a casualness that speaks to their humble beginnings. Entering into his installation viewers is presented with the relationship between functional objects, utility and presentation. The artist writes, “We surround ourselves with physical and visual remnants preserving experiences of time and place, collecting symbolic objects we create comfortable and lived in atmospheres.” Walking into Pafford’s installation asks the viewer to consider his objects in their constructed context.
Nina Kawar’s work examines the ephemerality of intermediate spaces that evoke vulnerability through the use of deconstructed materials. The role of her work is to convey this condition through object and experience that suggests a simultaneous state of presence and absence. The current installation in the Lee Gallery presents the work through a compressed entry point at the entrance of the gallery and opening up to an installation that is an experiential passage way into a space that is ethereal and otherworldly.
The Center for Visual Arts – Lee Gallery at Clemson University is open Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. and is located at 1-100 Lee Hall, 323 Fernow Street, Clemson, SC 29634. Events and receptions at the Lee Gallery are free and open to the public. For more information about the Lee Gallery, contact Denise Woodward-Detrich, Director atwoodwaw@clemson.edu.
