A cool oasis from the summertime heat, The Lyndon House Arts Center recently opened six solo exhibitions on June 8 to provide deeper looks into the practices of different artists. Ranging in style and medium, each body of work is distinctive and passionate about its chosen focus.
JACKIE DORSEY: The culmination of five years of work, Jackie Dorsey’s hyperrealistic portrait series “Legendary Georgia Musicians in Watercolor” honors and recognizes the legacies of Georgia-based performers. In addition to Athens-based musicians such as Randall Bramblett, Kevn Kinney (Drivin N Cryin), Vanessa Briscoe-Hay (Pylon), Cindy Wilson (The B-52s), Mike Mills (R.E.M.) and Sunny Ortiz (Widespread Panic), the series includes notable acts like Big Boi (Outkast), Emily Saliers and Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Stax Records soul man William Bell, jazz trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, and this week’s Flagpole cover model Eshe Light (Arrested Development). Reflecting a spectrum of genres and geographical regions, the 20 portraits collectively provide a snapshot of today’s artists actively contributing toward the state’s cultural history.
With the exception of Gregg Allman of the Allman Brothers, who died in 2017 before plans could be finalized, all of the musicians did one or more personal photo shoots with Dorsey. The portraits are accompanied by short biographies, behind-the-scenes stories describing the photo shoot, personal anecdotes and even QR codes to listen to songs, giving viewers an opportunity to not only discover more about the performer, but to learn about the artist’s creative practice.
Dorsey considers her latest exhibition to be a continuation of an ongoing body of work. In 2017, she presented two solo exhibitions, “Athens Celebrated” at the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation and “Athens in Watercolor” at the Classic Center, that featured portraits of local business owners and community members, including musicians from Monsoon, Pip the Pansy, The Drive-By Truckers and Grassland.
“This project to me was a natural extension of paying homage to our musicians,” says Dorsey. “I am honestly so deeply appreciative of the musical gifts they bring to us. I also wanted to showcase the extraordinary talent and music that comes out of Georgia. I believe there is something unique or special about the music here that seems to cross all genres. I wanted to celebrate that.”
Dorsey, who holds a Ph.D. in psychology, left behind a career in academia and teaching to pursue self-employment as an artist. After taking her first watercolor class about 10 years ago, she very quickly surpassed the learning curve by staying dedicated to her craft. She estimates that she has spent eight or more hours at least five days a week since discovering her passion. Though she often paints still lifes as well, she’s drawn to the challenge and excitement of portraiture.
“It must be the human connection,” says Dorsey. “There is a lot of intimacy in doing a realistic portrait. A portrait also has a story. Done well, a portrait immediately speaks to a viewer. There is also a ‘hell yeah’ kind of high that I get when the likeness of someone begins to emerge from the paper. It can’t be beat.”
Dorsey’s exhibition was supported by a financial gift from the Georgia Music Foundation, and is accompanied by a print catalog. A portion of proceeds from sales will be donated to GMF, Nuçi’s Space or the musicians themselves, at the musician’s choice.
CHARMAINE MINNIEFIELD: Within her paintings “Indigo Prayers,” Atlanta-based artist Charmaine Minniefield explores ancestral memory, ritual and resistance through depictions of Black women dancing in flowing white dresses. The series began during an unexpected year-long residency in The Gambia, West Africa, when the pandemic unexpectedly prevented the artist and her family from leaving but presented an opportunity to further research her own ancestry. As an ode to her ancestors, these impactful paintings use indigo pigments and other indigenous materials such as crushed oyster shells and mahogany bark. Her paintings build upon her ongoing exploration of the Ring Shout, a full-bodied, rhythmic prayer performed by African Americans during enslavement as a way to secretly preserve their African identity. By inserting her own likeness into these portraits full of movement and radiating Black joy, she pushes back against erasure and presents the preservation of identity and tradition as an act of resistance in itself.
MARGARET MORRISON: Consisting of a suite of 10 large-scale oil paintings, Margaret Morrison’s “Paradigm Shift” depicts dreamlike windows into various stages of enlightenment from awakening to transcendence. The series materialized out of a faculty research grant Morrison proposed to UGA’s Willson Center for Humanities and Arts in 2017 for a project entitled “Contemporary Examination of Caravaggio’s Dramatic Staging and Lighting – A Collaboration between Painting and Theatre.” Morrison collaborated with fellow professor Anthony Marotta of UGA’s Department of Theatre and Film Studies to not only explore the influential Italian painter’s use of theatrical light, but to experiment with stage choreography using students for the purpose of photographing reference images. A fifth generation Mormon, Morrison was left with a devastating sense of loss as the pure narrative of Mormonism she was raised with was shattered by historical documentation that began flooding the internet in the early 2000s. The dramatic, emotional scenes in “Paradigm Shift” represent her personal path from reevaluating her faith to rebuilding a new and infinitely deeper spirituality.
BRANDON NARSING: Focusing on one of the most severely impacted businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, “Georgia Theaters: A Ballad Surrounding the Proscenium” is a series of photographs that capture performance venues in a state of suspension as communities sheltered in place. Originally a mechanical engineering student at Georgia Southern University, artist Brandon Narsing pivoted to studying photography at UGA’s Lamar Dodd School of Art, and his body of work reflects this intersection of interests. With an eye for highlighting architectural details and embracing the banal, his minimalist snapshots draw attention to the underlying strangeness of urban environments. Each scene resembles a still life detailed with dusty surfaces, dim lighting and empty chairs waiting to spring back into activity. Though suggesting a peculiar period of abandonment, there’s a sense of unity between these images of important cultural centers separated by distance but connected through a shared experience.
CHARLES PINCKNEY: A metalsmith for over 50 years, local artist Charles Pinckney crafts jewelry and sculptures from a variety of metals, stones, bone and wood. Though he has picked up techniques from his studies at Arrowmont and Anderson Ranch, he is primarily a self-taught artist whose work is deeply guided by memories of childhood and his own lived experiences. Whether it’s a necklace, brooch or pair of earrings, his imaginative jewelry often transcends traditional form and doubles as wearable sculpture. “Story as Jewel: Metalworks by Charles Pinckney” features an assortment of objects full of personal symbolism. The industrial-looking sculpture “Tyin’ Up” represents a memory of picking cotton as a child, while another abstract work, “View of Sunrise,” was inspired by the artist’s mother reminding him to be thankful every morning. An untitled mixed-media work resembling a three-dimensional diorama is full of tiny objects relating tender memories: fish to represent the bonding trips with his father, a silver wire to represent a clothesline where he would help his mother with laundry, and a collection of Black metal hands he says represent “all the individuals that touched my young life, moving me forward to places long barred to them.”
LOIS THOMAS-EWINGS: Recognized within the Athens community as the founder and former facility supervisor of the East Athens Educational Dance Center, Lois Thomas-Ewings continues sharing her passion for dance through a series of vibrant paintings in “The Mythical Reality.” Thomas-Ewings moved to Athens in 1985 with a decade of dancing, choreographic and teaching experience under her belt. Only two years later, she founded a new volunteer dance program with a vision to provide performing arts opportunities to under-privileged youth. After outgrowing the space at the East Athens Community Center as well as its relocation to Dudley Park, the East Athens Educational Dance Center reopened in a state-of-the-art facility on McKinley Drive in 2005. Thirty years after establishing the program, she retired in 2017 and returned to her early interest in painting. “The Mythical Reality” is a collection of paintings combining dancers and elements of Black mythology. Each fantastical scene depicts goddesses, fairies or other otherworldly deities who extend golden streams onto mortals to represent inspiration, love, prosperity and freedom.
COMING SOON: In addition to the half dozen aforementioned shows that opened earlier this month, the Lyndon House Arts Center will open two additional exhibitions on July 1. “The Fables,” by local children’s illustrator Kristin Roberts, takes inspiration from Aesop’s Fables and echoes a juxtaposition between anthropomorphic animal characters and darker life lessons. “Sanctuary” combines the work of two artists who share a passion for animals: Mary Engle, who creates three-dimensional sculptures of animals bejeweled in tiny objects, and Cheryl Washburn, who presents a series of oil paintings of animals from multiple local rescue organizations. An opening reception will be held Thursday, July 6 from 6–8 p.m. These two exhibitions will remain on view through Oct. 7, while the others will close earlier on Sept. 1.
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