“Caretaker” is a group exhibit featuring pieces from five artists, Chloe Sampson, Zelda Thayer-Hansen, Ellie Dale, Julia Weber and Isabella DeRose.
The artists, all of whom attended Ohio University for undergrad, share the story of growing as individuals and caring for oneself.
The group exhibition is in the Tend Space Art Center, at 48 Converse St. in Chauncey, Ohio, and is on display until Saturday. The facilitator of the gallery is Selena, or “Len” Loomis, who also runs the campus galleries at OU’s School of Art and Design.
Loomis, an OU alum, lives in the back of Tend Space and tries to display an exhibition every month with the help of their landlord.
Loomis curated the first exhibit, called “Tending Space,” in September. For “Caretaker,” Loomis said they sent out an open call for artists to showcase their pieces, as they wanted to ensure artists in the area are being recognised and celebrated.
“I already knew many of these artists just by being at the University for so long, but I was really excited for a bunch of them to come back because they all have graduated and have moved on to kind of bigger and brighter (things)," Loomis said.
Loomis also said they were drawn to the artists' descriptions in the applications, describing the use of mediums as “disturbing” but also “soft and beautiful.”
Weber, a graduate student earning a Master of Arts Administration, contributed three ceramic pieces for “Caretaker.” She said all three pieces were created during undergrad.
“In addition to being a journalism major, I spent a lot of time in studio art classes,” Weber said. “All three of those pieces were born out of really beneficial classes that I took in the College of Fine Arts. (They) sort of opened my eyes to what I want my art to sort of be thinking through and to be engaging with.”
Weber said she and the other artists were friends throughout school, and they often collaborated and connected through their art. She said they always spoke about wanting to do something as a group.
“A lot of what our work is concerned with, in different capacities, is this idea of caretaking and sort of one's responsibility to others and to themselves,” Weber said.
Weber said her ceramic pieces are hand-built, and she used local clay she foraged as an officer for Club Clay last year for one of her pieces. Most of the other materials she works with are organic, such as beeswax and fabric dye sourced from walnuts.
“The pieces in this exhibition are sort of me navigating and negotiating this idea of, how do I present myself in the world, and how can I cultivate relationships in a way that's meaningful and responsible and true to who I want to be,” Weber said.
Sampson is receiving her master’s in art education, and had one piece in the show, titled “self portrait.” Sampson thought the exhibit was a great way to reconnect with friends who are busy with grad school and other work.
“Most of my work is about nature and human connection to nature, but the piece that I put in doesn't really reflect that,” Sampson said. “It's more of a reflection of how I felt during my early years of womanhood, how I felt navigating certain relationships that I've been in.”
Sampson's piece is a hanging sculpture made from raw fleece she sourced from Etsy. She said she often explores animal agriculture, and wanted to compare how we treat sheep to how a girl navigates the world.
“As a young woman entering the world, I've felt like a sacrificial lamb,” Sampson said. “I feel that my innocence has often been sought after or preyed upon, and I wanted to make something that reflected my feelings of that.”
Thayer-Hansen studied studio art with a concentration in sculpture during undergrad. Thayer-Hansen contributed pieces reflecting their transgender identity, including photographs of a performance piece where they “tattooed lines” onto their chest that “reflected lines on a wall” behind them.
“That whole piece focuses around a perpetual habit of assuming others' perceptions of you as your own identity,” Thayer-Hansen said. “Kind of relating to my trans identity and acceptance of it, and kind of how I've related external ideas of queerness, and brought them into my own body and mind, and how kind of that tattooing of it brings it full circle into my system.”
Dale is currently a student at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, pursuing her Master of Arts in psychology. She said this was the first time she showcased her art outside of classes, and contributed three pieces to reflect her love for Athens and Pittsburgh.
One of Dale’s pieces is a limb from a tree in her dad’s backyard in Pittsburgh.
“I love Athens so much (and) moving to Pittsburgh, it's been a very hard shift, since a lot of my friends remain in Athens,” Dale said. “It's kind of like when you first move somewhere new, and all your friends stay where you were, you feel alone in that way, and you feel it's kind of a hard shift.”
Loomis said it is a responsibility and privilege to support local artists, and Athens and Chauncey need more third spaces for artists.
“I knew that people wanted more space to exhibit work, but also do kind of quirky things that might not be accepted at some of the more established institutions,” Loomis said. “I think I'm trying to wiggle into that little niche spot.”
