The final Hawn Gallery exhibition for spring 2019, The Illusion of Being: Photographic Works by Lynné Bowman Cravens, Ross Faircloth, and Ashley Whitt, is a group exhibition of photographic works by DFW-based artists. Each artist utilizes lens-based media to investigate notions of reality as perceived by the self.
Segmenting and focusing on different body parts, Lynné Bowman Cravens creates abstract origami sculptures, which show a multiplicity present in our physical forms, and a disconnect with our mental selves. Through the use of mirrors, she invites the viewer to perceive themselves within layers of constructed compositions, enabling a reflection on where one begins and the other ends.
Utilizing a Sony PS4 and the game, Grand Theft Auto V, Ross Faircloth submerges himself into the uncanny valley of Los Santos. These images are captured in a documentary style throughout the large ‘sandbox’ style gameplay with the characters’ phone cameras. The images are printed with archival methods in the darkroom to add permanence to an image originating from what is normally an impermanent medium.
Ashley Whitt explores the inability to escape certain memories or thoughts in one’s mind. Through self-portrait, still life photographs, and GIFs, Whitt seeks to subvert the viewer’s perception of reality and the rational. These images and moving stills aim to rationalize the irrational and complicate the viewer’s perception. The images invite the viewer to become immersed in an optical illusion, possibly serving as metaphors for everyday experience.
The Illusion of Being is open March 22 through May 19, 2019 at the Hawn Gallery, located inside the Hamon Arts Library on SMU campus. An opening reception on March 22 from 5-7pm will have an artist talk at 5:45pm. For more information, contact Hawn Gallery at hawngallery@smu.edu or 214-768-1383.
Featured image: Courtesy of Ashley Whitt; text formatting, LaGail Davis, Acting Curatorial Assistant, Hawn Gallery