By Devonne Tourre
Contributing writer
The first art exhibition of the semester, “The Quickening Image,” featuring wax-resist drawings debuted in Lore Degenstein Gallery on Sept. 1.
Featured artists David Dodge Lewis and Ephraim Rubenstein were at the reception to present their works and speak regarding their pieces and artistic processes.
Rubenstein explained how he uses the “wax-technique” in his artistic process, “Early on, you put the wax down to preserve the white areas of the paper… and as you build it up, it becomes more and more realistic.”
“I wanted to leave the residue of the process and show that this drawing went through many stages,” Rubenstein continued.
According to the website for the artists’ joint exhibition, wax-resist technique uses wax as “a resist for subsequent ink and charcoal washes.” The website also notes that there are seemingly opposite elements of the technique, like the inclusion of wet and dry materials and both careful and spontaneous elements.
Gallery director Dan Olivetti said, “David Dodge Lewis kind of pioneered [the technique].”
Lewis, who has had his work shown at over one hundred exhibitions, also spoke on his artistic process.
“I think of my paintings as children,” he said. “You can tell them what to do up to a certain point – but [not] after that.”
Lewis told the crowd that every drawing he did had the potential to change during production and it often did so frequently. Rubenstein added, “There is lots of room for experimentation.”
Olivetti said he first heard about Lewis while on campus and Rubenstein came into the picture later.
“David Dodge Lewis is a longtime friend of Jonathan Green and Lynn Buck,” Olivetti said. “I was at their house at Pine Lawn [and] she was showing me some artwork. I said, ‘Who’s this?’ and she said, ‘That’s David Dodge Lewis.’”
Olivetti originally planned on featuring Lewis and Lewis’ wife, Sandy Cox, but since Lewis and Rubenstein were already hosting an exhibit together, things fell into place.
The works of art featured a variety of subjects from Greek statues, to saber-toothed cat skulls, to rope, to one of the artist’s dogs.
Some of Rubenstein’s works featured his late Great Dane, which he spoke on: “We knew that he was dying… So I wanted to do this series to memorialize him.”
“I once had a show with 15 of the dog paintings around and I wanted you to really sense what it’s like to live with a big animal,” Rubenstein said. “It really takes over the house.”
Senior Taylor Breeding, who attended the event, said she appreciated the simplicity of the pieces.
“Even though the [charcoal drawings] were so simple, there was more of an impact due to me liking older styles of artwork more than modern artwork,” she said.
Breeding specifically noted Lewis’ “Rope #13:” “The way he drew that version of [frayed rope] connected by one single thread; I connect to that idea because having a difficult school year, I feel as though everything was coming undone.”
The exhibition will be on display in the Lore Degenstein Gallery through Oct. 7.
