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Paintings in “Suspension” in Sella-Granata exhibit

Suspension, an exhibition of works on paper by artists Astri Snodgrass and Anna Katherine Phipps, will run from February 24 – March 14 in the Sella-Granata Art Gallery, Woods Hall, on The University of Alabama campus. A reception will be held in the gallery, March 7, from 6-8 pm.

Anna Katherine Phipps, "Float"

The artists point out that the idea of “suspension” relates to ideas of both time and gravity. Phipps describes her pieces as “weightless shapes [that] balance in a fluid atmosphere, suspended in a moment in time.” Snodgrass said that she works “from memory and imagination of sensory perceptions, layering moments into a sense of deep space for the viewer to fall into.”

The exhibition is in partial fulfillment of the Master of Arts degree for Astri Snodgrass. For more information on the graduate programs of the UA Department of Art and Art History, visit this link: https://art.ua.edu/academics/graduate-programs/.

ARTIST STATEMENTS

Anna Katherine Phipps

Allowing the natural movement of watercolor and other water media to puddle or be spattered, this milieu of flux on paper Suspension Show Cardbecomes populated by hard-edged curvilinear forms. The shapes evolve from loose sketches of figures and objects in nature, and appear void of superficial detail out of my own need to understand the shape in simplest terms. Weightless they balance until, just as everything touches water, they appear to dance and find structure again by clustering and building on each other. Rules are set for craftsmanship, for play, yet often broken progressively with new work; however, painting stays experimental and often populated by structured drawing and contrasting forces. For me, painting is the expression of serious play.

Astri Snodgrass

 

I work from memory, experience, and imagination of bodily sensations to explore various ways that visual information can evoke other kinds of sensations beyond the visual. My paintings draw from sensory perceptions to create a sense of deep space for the viewer to fall into. The immersive space in the paintings references bodily sensations that also give a sense of space, like the sound of rain falling on a tin roof above you or light tremors of the shifting earth below. These expansive painted worlds are collections of layered moments that blend memory and imagination.Astri Snodgrass, "In and Under"

The Sella-Granata Art Gallery is located in 109 Woods Hall, The University of Alabama, and open during the school year. We are open Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., except when we are installing a new show.