BY BENJAMIN RICHTER
Contributing Writer
Credit goes to its rightful owner.
The McKendree University Gallery of Art will be hosting its next show “Submerge and Surface: Paintings by Crystal Vicars-Pugh” from Oct. 9 to Oct. 25. The gallery will host a reception with the artist at the gallery on Friday, Oct. 24, from 4 to 7 PM. All receptions are free and open to the public. The gallery is located on the brick road in Lebanon, Ill. at 224 W. St. Louis Street. The gallery’s hours are 1-4 PM, Thursday through Saturday.
Amy MacLennan, one of McKendree University’s art professors, commented on Crystal Vicars-Pugh’s work which will be presented at the event: “In her series of paintings entitled “Submerge and Surface,” Vicar-Pugh creates a metaphor for water in paint. Colors and textures ripple, concealing and revealing parts of the painting’s history. Paint reflects like a mirror on the surface of a quiet lake, then freezes, trapping the past in icy puddles. Like rain-washed surfaces, fluid paint performs something like a baptism, allowing areas previously hidden to resurface anew.”
The artist, Vicars-Pugh, in response, said, “To me, painting is a spiritual event. The space between painter and canvas is natural, supernatural, and spiritual. I delight in the evolution of process, and my work addresses ones inner self, connecting with outside world. While painting, I reflect on the outside world allowing my inner self to translate my sensory reaction to the scenery into abstract paint. […]My paintings explore life’s mystery. There is a veil between what we think we know and what might really be there. My work describes a force much larger than me. It is this natural, powerful force that at times I can almost explain, but for the most part remains obscure.”
If you are interested in learning more about Vicars-Pugh’s artwork, stop by McKendree University’s Gallery of Art at any time between 4 and 7 PM from Oct. 9 to Oct. 25.
