Kendall Aronson, Campus Carrier asst. arts & living editor
The new art exhibit in the Moon gallery, titled “Bad Bold Wiser,” features Berry’s own ceramics teacher, Kelly Stevenson.
The ceramic sculpture collection is heavily influenced by Stevenson’s pets. Her dog and cat both passed away this summer, so the gallery’s emphasis on animals is largely due to these recent experiences.
Many sculptures populate the space, depicting pain and suffering. The pieces are also a mix of different media, such as painting and writing.
The art showcases human relationships with animals. Fish swarm a woman in one, and birds drink from a woman’s eyes in another. One particularly powerful sculpture is titled “Clyde”, after Stevenson’s dog. It depicts a woman contorted in pain, holding a dog, with a letter to Clyde on her back.
“I’ve always known I was very interested in art. Both of my parents were artists, so I grew up around it,” Stevenson said.
To celebrate the opening, Stevenson’s mentor and previous professor from Georgia State University, Christina West, visited the gallery and gave an art talk on Aug. 28.
“Kelly is one of the most talented and hard-working grad students I’ve worked with at Georgia State,” West said. “When I think of Kelly, the word that often starts to come to mind is ‘fearlessness,’ but it’s really more. It’s not that she’s not afraid of things. She just meets that fear head on.”
Stevenson was glad to have her mentor come and observe her work.
It took Stevenson two-and-a-half months to create the art now displayed in the gallery.
“It was pretty intensive, working from morning through night this summer,” Stevenson said.
Stevenson thinks it is valuable to have the artwork where her students can easily see it.
“I think it’s really good for the students to have an idea of what their professor makes. When I give my artist talk, they will get to understand how I started out and how my work has developed over the years,” Stevenson said.
Sophomore Timothy Wooley is an art minor who took Community Outreach with Stevenson last semester. He thought seeing his professor’s work in this setting was very powerful.
“When I first walked into the gallery, I was very surprised to see the difference between the artwork that she helps students with in class and that she works on independently,” Wooley said.
In addition to seeing his professor’s ability, Wooley said that he learned more about what was expected of an art student after graduation.
Stevenson will be giving her own ‘Art Talk’ in the Moon building at 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 18, which will go further in depth about her artistic career and the inspirations for the art in her show. The exhibit will stay in the Moon gallery until Sept. 21.