Trails and Thresholds
By Tom Wachunas
“The mountains
were his master. They rimmed in life. They were the cup of reality, beyond
growth, beyond struggle and death. They were his absolute unity in the midst of
eternal change.” –Thomas Wolfe, from Look
Homeward, Angel
“Do not go where
the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” –Ralph
Waldo Emerson
EXHIBIT: Courage: An Attempted
Explanation/Understanding, installation by Debra DeGregorio, THROUGH
OCTOBER 1, at Malone University Fountain Gallery, located in the Johnson
Center, 2600 Cleveland Avenue NW, Canton
Among the more
intriguing aspects of this highly engaging exhibit by Debra DeGregorio are the
disarmingly simple physical materials she uses in delineating what can fairly
be called a daunting contemplation - the dichotomy of explaining a thing (or idea) and understanding it. In this case, as the title of the installation
tells us, she attempts to explain and understand courage.
“WELL ThIS IS what hAppeneD TO Me” is a
subtitle in block letters adhered to the wall just below a horizontal sprawl of
four ‘mountains’ made of painted cloth mâché distributed between six sumi ink
drawings on paper. These elements are loosely connected by arcing lines of tiny
orange flags on straight pins, a scattering of rounded paper forms painted to
suggest blue lakes, and meandering squiggles of wire.
In her statement
for the show, DeGregorio calls her formal arrangements “approachable
micro-worlds.” Herein she addresses “…the mammoth and courageous task of living
every day in the vast interior and exterior arena of history, memory, emotions,
interactions and futures.” Whew. Talk about the rarefied air of mountaintops.
DeGregorio labels
her mountains as an “explanation.” These are fairly literal representations,
presented from an aerial perspective, of apparent volume, mass and texture
either already traveled and known (as indicated by dotted lines of “footprints,”
marker flags and miniscule coils of climbing rope) or, perhaps, yet to be
traversed.
Her drawings, on
the other hand, represent “understanding.” These are relatively more abstract configurations
executed in sumi ink, a highly prized medium originated centuries ago by
Japanese masters of ink wash painting. Such masters often rendered landscapes
from memory, and their elegant images were intended to prompt reflection on the
numinous essence of the subject matter. DeGregorio’s fluid and visceral ink
drawings tap into that tradition, exuding a similarly intuitive, meditative air.
I see the combined
visual elements of this installation as representing the gestalt of knowledge (“explanation”)
and wisdom (“understanding”). One might embrace the work as a codified map, or
a collective symbol of the challenging questions and breakthroughs that dot the
landscape of life itself. Or call it the artist’s personal journal of
encountered thresholds - “Well this is
what happened to me.”
At the risk of
further assigning too lofty an interpretation of the work at hand, I leave you
with this thought: The vagaries of living are such that whether negotiating
capricious, wandering trails, or purposefully forging paths to new terrains,
all of them require courage if we are to ultimately discern the true meaning of
the journey.
P.S. If you visit
the Fountain Gallery to see this installation, and haven’t viewed the Malone
Adjunct Faculty exhibit in the McFadden Gallery (reviewed here at http://artwach.blogspot.com/2013/07/different-strokes.html
), please note that that show has been apparently extended until Sept. 23.
PHOTOS: Installation
full view and details of Courage: An
Attempted Explanation/Understanding by Debra DeGregorio
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