Now Showing in the RSM Art Gallery: HOKU by Kiana Kanoa '20

Updated March 13, 2020: The opening reception scheduled for March 26th has been cancelled. We will post an update if the event is rescheduled.

Now on view in the RSM Art Gallery is a collection of photographs from HOKU Magazine, an online sustainable fashion magazine founded by Bentley University student Kiana Kanoa ’20. Please join us in celebrating HOKU at a reception on Thursday, March 26, 5:00-7:00 p.m. To learn more about the exhibit read the artist’s statement below. Co-sponsored by the Bentley Library and the Office of Sustainability .

HOKU
Kiana Kanoa ’20, Founder and Editor in Chief
March 5 – April 18, 2020

Opening Reception
Thursday, March 26 | 5:00-7:00 p.m.

HOKU Magazine cover: Modern Opulence, volume I, issue II.

Artist Statement

Multi-disciplinary creative, strategic marketing maven and self-proclaimed lover of all things film.  After traveling to Milan, I indulged in the world of fashion but couldn’t come to terms with its detriment.  With 6+ years of digital marketing and branding experience under my belt, I set out to shed light on authentic, badass and conscious fashion brands who don’t settle for the ordinary.  My passion for sustainability and fashion allowed me to seamlessly fuse my knowledge of innovative marketing techniques, love for photography and eye for web design to form HOKU MAGAZINE.

In the Native Hawaiian culture, HOKU is the night of the fullest moon – beautiful and magnificent.  As a Native Hawaiian, my culture is emulated in everything I do.  HOKU Magazine represents the ethereal and ever-present guiding light of the good that encompasses the fashion industry.  We are an online fashion magazine that fuses the best of sustainability, fashion, and design by creating a seamless platform for the eco and ethically conscious reader.  A narrative that highlights brands who create effortless silhouettes and killer accessories, while being conscious of their impact.  HOKU covers stories revolving around brands, influencers, creators and real people who are committed to sustainable innovation within the fashion industry.

Kiana Kanoa ’20
https://www.hokumagazine.com/

Now Showing in the RSM Art Gallery: "LUMEN: Paintings by Roz Sommer"

Now on view in the RSM Art Gallery is LUMEN, a collection of oil paintings by Roz Sommer. An opening reception for the artist will be held on Thursday, January 16, 5:00-7:00 p.m. To learn more about the artist and her work, please read the Artist Statement below.

LUMEN
Paintings by Roz Sommer

January 13 – March 2, 2020

Opening Reception
Thursday, January 16 | 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Broken Peach by Roz Sommer

Artist Statement

In Roz Sommer’s paintings, expressive qualities of paint, particularly oil paint, connect the various bodies of work. Thick, juicy, textural color as well as dramatic light and shadows emphasize the intensity of the images. In some pieces the content is emotional, such as the paintings of the aftermath of disasters; physical, global catastrophes or personal interior struggles. In other work, the subject matter might be tranquil; still life paintings of foods and everyday objects, or scenes from nature, but Sommer’s paint application, energetic brushwork and gesture can still be troubling or ominous. Yet, emanating light brings hope and expectation into the darkness.

Roz Sommer
http://rozsommer.com/

Now Showing in the RSM Art Gallery: "Vague Space" by Casey Hayward

Vague Space is a hybrid documentary project and photo-sculptural art installation by Casey Hayward, Associate Professor of English and Media Studies at Bentley University. The components of the work—still photographs and found objects—come from the cities of Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn and Salem, MA. These cities have been hit particularly hard by the opioid epidemic and the exhibit serves to shed light on that environment. Mattresses, doors, highchairs and other castoff items found in dumpsters, forested areas, back alleys and roadsides become canvases for imagery of a life lived “rough.”

Please join us in celebrating the opening of Vague Space at a reception for the artist in the RSM Art Gallery on Wednesday, October 16, from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Casey Hayward
Vague Space 
October 2 – November 5, 2019


Artist’s Reception: 
Wednesday, October 16
4:00-6:00 p.m.

Your Protection by Casey Hayward
Your Protection
large print transfer on plywood, scrap wood, syringe caps

Casey Hayward: Artist Statement

In my work, be it documentary filmmaking, photography or installation, I seek to explore social justice issues through art, with an appreciation for the imperfection of lived experience. The flaws of humanity often afford a more impactful entrée into the investigation of the world we inhabit.

I am particularly interested in the entropy of cultures, communities and systems. From an aesthetic standpoint, I have always been drawn to rusted metal, rotting wood and other detritus surrounding us. To me this detritus–the less desirable output of our way of life–has a beauty all its own.

I take photographs, interview participants and consider the most effective ways of sharing my work, all with the complexity of imperfection in mind. While I cannot avoid digital technologies due to their ease and ubiquity, I do enjoy physical processes like exposing and developing analog film. I find the process is challenging and introduces flaws based on a myriad of environmental factors and my own abilities. I enjoy the serendipity of “happy accidents.” These can serve to remind viewers that they are experiencing not just a body of work but also a process. Reflexivity in this way is something I instill in much of my work. I trust that participants are keen enough to examine more than just the product, but my role and the problems it can inhere in making the art.

Casey Hayward, Associate Professor
Department of English and Media Studies
Bentley University
chayward@bentley.edu

This project was made possible with the support of the Bentley University Health Thought Leadership Network, Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences and the Department of English and Media Studies.

Now Showing in the RSM Art Gallery: Underline Series by Elisa H. Hamilton

Now on view in the library’s RSM Art Gallery is a series of continuous-line, blind-contour drawings by Elisa H. Hamilton. All are invited to attend a closing reception for the artist on Wednesday, September 25, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Please mark your calendars for this special event!

To learn more about Elisa H. Hamilton please read the artist’s statement below, visit the website www.elisahhamilton.com/, and follow @elisahhamilton #UnderlineSeries on Instagram.

Elisa H. Hamilton
Underline: within, and beneath, the wandering lines 
August 6 – September 27, 2019


Closing reception: 
Wednesday, September 25
5:00-7:00 p.m.

Artist’s Statement

This body of work explores my biracial identity through the introspective creation of continuous-line, blind-contour self-portraits; a drawing process that asks me to engage fully with my own visual form, and translate that form into line while not looking at what I am creating or lifting my mark from the page.

As a biracial person how I am seen shifts in the eye of the beholder and depends on social context.  Through these explorations I contemplate my own visual form while relinquishing the ability to control how I look. I embrace a process of discovery that asks me to truly see myself, and asks the viewer to find me within, and beneath, the wandering lines.

These drawings began in black and white, but gradually shifted towards multicolored expressions of self.  Through this process I have discovered that none of us are just one thing- we are all multicolored beings beneath the surface.

Elisa H. Hamilton
socially engaged multimedia artist – she/her/hers
www.ElisaHHamilton.com
@ElisaHHamilton Instagram & Twitter

Art Gallery: Milisa Galazzi Exhibit Opens April 25; Reception 5-7pm

Opening on April 25, 2019, is an exhibit by Milisa Galazzi titled “Line as Language”. We hope you can join us in welcoming the artist at an opening reception on Thursday, April 25, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

The exhibit will be on view until June 13, 2019. To learn more about the artist, please read her statement below and visit her website at https://www.milisagalazzi.com/

Milisa Galazzi
Line as Language
April 25 – June 13, 2019

Artist’s Reception
Thursday, April 25
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Asemic Message 54 by Milisa Galazzi

Artist’s Statement

LINE AS LANGUAGE

I learned to read in fifth grade. Until then, I struggled to sound out vowels, and I had difficulty stringing words together to build sentences. Printed text seemed to float on the page like shadows wafting in a breeze. Letters and numbers flipped in space. “Ws” would become “Ms,” and sixes would become nines. Even after laborious late-night studying, I repeatedly failed tests the next day – although I knew the material cold. By mid-high school, I finally understood why.

Dyslexia, a form of neuro-diversity, is defined as “a neurological condition caused by a different wiring of the brain.” Over time, I have found that the unique way my brain functions is a great asset in my creative work – especially my drawing.

The language of a line communicates powerfully. Even an asemic line – one in which no semic content or meaning exists – conveys a strong message with deep meaning. This exhibition is hung on the walls of an art gallery inside a library, which sits in the middle of a university campus. This is where thoughts are born and nurtured. Shared through the symbols of math and science and in the written words of the humanities, ideas are created and cultivated here. This is a place of scholarly meaning making. Just as a mathematician and a social scientist have their own languages, as an artist, I speak a different language – I am fluent in the language of line.

Milisa Galazzi

On View in the Art Gallery: Other Worldly: Paintings by Nancy Hayes

Now on view in the RSM Art Gallery is Other Worldly, an installation of large format paintings, triptychs, and diptychs by Nancy Hayes. All are invited to attend a reception for the artist in the gallery on Thursday, March 21, from 4:00-6:00 p.m.

The exhibit will be on view until April 19, 2019. To learn more about the artist, please read her statement below and visit her website at https://www.nancychayes.com/.

Other Worldly: Paintings by Nancy Hayes
March 15 – April 19, 2019

Artist’s Reception
Thursday, March 21
4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Soaring by Nancy Hayes
Soaring by Nancy Hayes
acrylic on board, three panels, 4’x2′ each
2018

Artist’s Statement

Painting permits direct access into my own personal laboratory where I develop forms and visual landscapes built from my imagination. I work with color, line, pattern and shape, arranging and rearranging until I am inspired to elaborate on a composition, going deeper into its texture, its biology.

As a writer does, I am building my own characters, their personalities and context in which they live. Just as a reader injects their own personal knowledge into a story, enriching the plot, my objective is to allow the viewer to explore their own visual narrative, enhancing the forms with their imagination.

Nancy Hayes
nancychayes.com
nhayes256@comcast.net

Now Showing in the RSM Art Gallery: Paintings by Christina Chang

We are very pleased to announce that Saturation: Paintings by Christina Chang is now on view in the RSM Art Gallery. All are invited to meet the artist at an opening reception on Wednesday, February 13, from 5:00-7:00 p.m. To learn more about the artist and her work, please read her statement below.

Saturation: Paintings by Christina Chang
January 14 – March 8, 2019

Artist’s Reception
Wednesday, February 13
5:00-7:00 p.m.

Spring Sunshine by Christina Chang

Artist’s Statement

Color, light, energy, and movement all come to mind when thinking about why I create art. I am never at a loss for ideas and the desire to create and paint is in me every day. I enjoy challenging myself to come up with new color combinations and applying them to the canvas surface. I find the process mesmerizing and meditative.

Although I was trained classically, and created art in many forms and expressions, capturing color, light, and shapes are primary goals in my latest creations. My work has evolved and transformed from portraying landscapes through an impressionistic style to abstraction. I am currently painting works that emphasize light in new ways. A stroke of the brush and the application of bold color are what drives my art to come to life.

I created the latest works with water-soluble oil paints on canvas. These paintings capture my love of painting and being outdoors, as well as my emotions and feelings. When I paint, I am able to express nonverbal feelings.

I enjoy working on many paintings simultaneously. I sometimes reference landscape photographs that I took at a particular location and find inspiration from those photos and my experience at that time. It is so gratifying to complete a painting with my own two hands and bring a painting from my imagination into existence.

On View in the RSM Art Gallery: Photographs by Kyle Eyma

We are very pleased to announce that opening on October 5, 2018, is an installation of photographs by Bentley University student Kyle Eyma. All are invited to a reception to celebrate the artist and his work on Wednesday, October 10, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The exhibit will be on view until November 5. To learn more about the artist, please read his statement below.

Photographs by Kyle Eyma
October 5 – November 5, 2018

Artist’s Reception
Wednesday, October 10, 2018
4:00-6:00 p.m.

Photograph by Kyle Eyma

Artist’s Statement

I know not everyone I shoot with prior to the photo, but afterwards, either via interaction or the camera, I learn a little bit about them. My photos feature different people, because I know a couple characters. The phrase ‘Damn, that kid’s black’, is just a statement of the obvious for saliency purposes. It’s an exclamation of the pride I have in myself. I’m unequivocally black. I’ve seen what I’ve seen and know what I know as a result. I bring it up because it’s entirely irrelevant but inarguably existential to my identity. Besides, I like standing out as the community of photographers of color is small. In this exhibition, I share my growing appreciation of the people I see. It explores color, light, darkness, and isolation in the city.

This exhibit is cosponsored by the Bentley Library, The Multicultural Center, The Valente Center for Arts & Sciences, Dean of Arts and Sciences, and the Global Studies Department