By Katie Willis, Staff writer
A new art exhibit, “Body and Mind,” created by adjunct faculty in art Lori Kershner, is on display on the first floor of the Blough-Weis Library throughout the rest of the semester.
According to Kershner, she was involved with art from a very young age.
“I grew up with an easel on the kitchen floor of our house,” Kershner said. “So when I was little, it was all about access to it.”
When asked about her style, Kershner noted the differences and similarities between her work on display, which used graphite, and her paintings.
“Style’s an interesting concept, because if you look at my painting, it would look different,” Kershner said.
“There would be some similarities, but I think style can sometimes shift with your needs to communicate something,” Kershner continued.
Kershner also described how her different artwork can vary in intricacy.
“I play with ideas of minimal[ism], like how much is enough,” Kershner said. “Then I play with ideas of, ‘How can I heap it on?’ so much that it becomes something new again and kind of pushing those boundaries.”
For this exhibit, Kershner described the unique process she used for the art featured in the exhibition.
“I was on my hands and knees kneeling… and closing my eyes and using graphite to mark where I was sensing things in my body,” Kershner explained.
Kershner emphasized that sense was a large part of the experience and she did not want to make much change to the art afterwards.
Kershner said that she wants her collection to be left open to interpretation.
“I want people to have their own experience,” Kershner said. “I like to hear people’s individual experiences with it. Even at the times when you have a kind of resonance with your feelings about a piece and somebody else’s, it could not be exactly the same but could have some synergy about it.”
According to Kershner, the process she used for the exhibit is new: the concept of slowing down her mind and body enough to sense the artistic process.
Kershner noted that one of the challenges she faces as an artist is her experience with chronic pain.
Kershner said there were times when she had gotten so involved with her art that she neglected her body.
In this artistic process, however, Kershner was able to pay attention to her body and create at the same time.
“When you go through art school, there can be this sense of being a slave to your art but embracing that in a way that is too legalistic,” Kershner said.
“You can still be a slave to your art without killing yourself or without causing damage,” Kershner continued. “It’s kind of understanding how to follow your own voice within the own constraints of your life.”
Kershner also noted that for many of her pieces, the titles indicated what the image attempted to communicate.
Some of the works included “Landscape Touched and Left” and “Meat Locker.”
Kershner also commented on the opportunities made available in art for creators to verge into.
“From the foundation of a gesture and felt sensation, possibilities open,” Kershner said. “A single mark in its infancy may be all that is needed to hold an expanse.”
“Other drawings reflect impulses to embellish, obscure and re-imagine as I use the eraser or smudge with my hand,” Kershner continued.
“The images are abstract and lyrical,” Kershner explained. “They are introspective and other-facing at once, declarations of love for artmaking within the constraints of everyday life.”
Previous exhibitions in the Blough-Weis Library this year included artwork by local artists Marilyn Paul and Vicki Renn and students in adjunct faculty in photography Gordon Wenzel’s fall photography classes.
Other art can be found on campus in the senior graphic design and studio arts exhibition in Lore Degenstein Gallery, which will be displayed until April 8.
