The Traveler

Issue date: 2/25/09 Section: Lifestyles

Media Credit: Veronica Pucci Sarah Creasman's "My Atmosphere: Honors Thesis Exhibit," located in the Anne Kittrell Art Gallery, is a collection of conceptual images of light and warmth.

Media Credit: Veronica Pucci The artist stands in front of one of her pieces. The Anne Kittrell Art Gallery will host an opening reception for Sarah Creasman's undergraduate thesis exhibition tomorrow night.

Sarah Creasman's artwork is an invitation for spectators to enter the environment she has created inside of the University Programs Anne Kittrell Art Gallery. Her collection, entitled "My Atmosphere: Honors Thesis Exhibit," is a personal subject that she is revealing to the public.

When Creasman, an undergraduate art major with an emphasis on painting, began her project, she initially started painting candles because she was intrigued by their quality of intense and changing light. Although she was attracted by the candles' visual allure for their simplicity, they also reminded her of her home in Maumelle, Ark.

"My mother lit candles constantly, so painting them felt familiar to me," Creasman said. "I'd like for the viewers to feel a sense of calm and warmth, and I try to simulate that in the gallery."

Creasman began painting representational candles, but decided to take the idea and expand it abstractly. The paintings in the gallery now suggest a more indefinite focus of light sources relating to each other or themselves in terms of scale, form, movement and color, said Creasman in her artist statement.

"The quality of light and environment is what I'm after," said Creasman in her statement. "Such an atmosphere is so intriguing to me for its warmth and ambiguity."

Creasman uses a glowing warm palette to provide a tranquil mood. She was inspired by the paintings of William Turner for his own palette choice and how his light and haze combined with his romanticized nature scenes, she said. Even though she usually works with oil on canvas or panel, the five major paintings are on unsupported canvases which are suspended from the ceiling, suggestive of blankets which deliver literal warmth. The pieces purposely overwhelm the spectator to showcase the way candle light encompasses its surroundings.

"I don't want [the paintings] to be intrusive, but I want the viewer to become a part of the actual experience," Creasman said. "I want the viewer to take a break and feel at home, whether it is nostalgia of an actual home or simply being at ease."

In addition to the larger works, the exhibit also showcases smaller works, which Creasman calls preliminary works as they were completed before and during the major works.

"[The preliminary works] show the progress of the exhibit being more conceptual," she said. "Without these, [the larger scenes] would not be possible."

The smaller works are included in Creasman's show because she feels they offer something the larger pieces cannot - an intimacy much like the essence of a candle, said Creasman in her artist statement.

The Anne Kittrell Art Gallery will host an opening reception for Creasman's exhibition from 5 to 7 p.m. tomorrow. The art will be displayed until March 13. The gallery is located on the fourth floor of the Arkansas Union and is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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