Inside the Diving Bell
Collaborative paintings by
Anne Emmons, Kiki McGrath
and Tim Timmerman
August 28 – November 3, 2017
in the Smith Boardroom
Opening soon
- On Collaboration as Spiritual Practice
by Dr.Deborah Sokolove
In contemporary Western culture, the image of the artist is often that of the lone outsider, plumbing the depths of experience on a solitary voyage, with the goal of returning with an exquisite object of aesthetic perfection as the record of an important truth that no one else has ever seen. Artists are taught to trust their inner vision, to be wary of the expectations and influences of others, even as they look to the long generations of artists before them for inspiration, technical expertise, and validation of their calling. To call oneself an artist is to take on the mantle of shaman, prophet, truth-teller, revolutionary, mediator between the ordinary and the divine.
When artists agree to enter a collaborative process, they no longer are able to maintain whatever illusion of control they may cling to in the sovereign solitude of their ordinary studio practice. In order to allow another artist to alter what they have begun, they must silence the protesting ego, which never wants to let go of the divine vision to which they have begun to give form. Likewise, receiving an unfinished work from another artist’s hands requires the sensitivity to honor the initiating artist’s contribution while taking it in a new direction.
For the three artists in this show, the giving and receiving became an intricate dance as each one repeatedly took the role of initiator, mediator, and completer. This collaborative process is a spiritual practice in which gratefully accepting what is given and gracefully letting go of control becomes as important as creating artworks that are aesthetically satisfying and conceptually intriguing. Anne Emmons, Tim Timmerman, and Kiki McGrath entered the diving bell together, each trusting in their mutual interdependence on one another and God. The resulting paintings are the trace of their journey, the visible evidence of the Holy Spirit moving among them, around them, and through them.
On Collaboration as Spiritual Practice
by Dr.Deborah Sokolove
In contemporary Western culture, the image of the artist is often that of the lone outsider, plumbing the depths of experience on a solitary voyage, with the goal of returning with an exquisite object of aesthetic perfection as the record of an important truth that no one else has ever seen. Artists are taught to trust their inner vision, to be wary of the expectations and influences of others, even as they look to the long generations of artists before them for inspiration, technical expertise, and validation of their calling. To call oneself an artist is to take on the mantle of shaman, prophet, truth-teller, revolutionary, mediator between the ordinary and the divine.
When artists agree to enter a collaborative process, they no longer are able to maintain whatever illusion of control they may cling to in the sovereign solitude of their ordinary studio practice. In order to allow another artist to alter what they have begun, they must silence the protesting ego, which never wants to let go of the divine vision to which they have begun to give form. Likewise, receiving an unfinished work from another artist’s hands requires the sensitivity to honor the initiating artist’s contribution while taking it in a new direction.
For the three artists in this show, the giving and receiving became an intricate dance as each one repeatedly took the role of initiator, mediator, and completer. This collaborative process is a spiritual practice in which gratefully accepting what is given and gracefully letting go of control becomes as important as creating artworks that are aesthetically satisfying and conceptually intriguing. Anne Emmons, Tim Timmerman, and Kiki McGrath entered the diving bell together, each trusting in their mutual interdependence on one another and God. The resulting paintings are the trace of their journey, the visible evidence of the Holy Spirit moving among them, around them, and through them.
by Dr.Deborah Sokolove
In contemporary Western culture, the image of the artist is often that of the lone outsider, plumbing the depths of experience on a solitary voyage, with the goal of returning with an exquisite object of aesthetic perfection as the record of an important truth that no one else has ever seen. Artists are taught to trust their inner vision, to be wary of the expectations and influences of others, even as they look to the long generations of artists before them for inspiration, technical expertise, and validation of their calling. To call oneself an artist is to take on the mantle of shaman, prophet, truth-teller, revolutionary, mediator between the ordinary and the divine.
When artists agree to enter a collaborative process, they no longer are able to maintain whatever illusion of control they may cling to in the sovereign solitude of their ordinary studio practice. In order to allow another artist to alter what they have begun, they must silence the protesting ego, which never wants to let go of the divine vision to which they have begun to give form. Likewise, receiving an unfinished work from another artist’s hands requires the sensitivity to honor the initiating artist’s contribution while taking it in a new direction.
For the three artists in this show, the giving and receiving became an intricate dance as each one repeatedly took the role of initiator, mediator, and completer. This collaborative process is a spiritual practice in which gratefully accepting what is given and gracefully letting go of control becomes as important as creating artworks that are aesthetically satisfying and conceptually intriguing. Anne Emmons, Tim Timmerman, and Kiki McGrath entered the diving bell together, each trusting in their mutual interdependence on one another and God. The resulting paintings are the trace of their journey, the visible evidence of the Holy Spirit moving among them, around them, and through them.