A Dialogue of Space Described features works by artists
Joyce Speechley and Jonathan Jacquet
A Dialogue of Space Described is showing at North Florida Community College’s Hardee Center for the Arts throughout the month of April and features works by artists Joyce Speechley and Jonathan Jacquet. A reception will be held Tuesday, April 5 from 12 Noon-1:30 p.m. to celebrate the new exhibit. All are invited to attend.
Joyce Speechley is a professor at the Illinois Institute of Art and Columbia College. Her works are a study in movement and value, featuring an extensive range of landscapes. Her featured gray-scaled series of works is based upon the ideals and concepts derived from the principles of Daoism, inviting the viewer to become one with nature. Moved to portray the dynamic between atmospheric humidity and the qualities of light within the natural landscape, these works are produced in a unique method. Using fumage, a surrealist technique in which the impressions of a candle or kerosene lantern produce marks on paper, Speechley’s work references the qualities of fine charcoal drawings with a more lasting permanence. This contradiction is repeated in her subject, the momentary glimmer of light produced by fog, mist and other forms of atmospheric moisture. The science of timing is obvious in the selection of subject compositions and in the range of values present in the works. Starting with a sketch of a place in which solitude and a sense of communion with the natural space exist, Speechley evolves her work using layers of graphite, graphite powder and fumage.
Artist Jonathan Jacquet is a professor at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. At the age of five, Jacquet lost the vision in his left eye, which created a condition called Acquired Monocular Vision (AMV). His current body of work explores the effects of this condition, including Stereo-Blindness (lacking the ability to read spatial cues with two eyes; Stereopsis).
“The Stereo-blind do not have this perception of form, so the navigation of space is more of a challenge,” said Jacquet. “In order to walk through a room, without bumping into things, the Stereo-blind needs to read other spatial cues for depth perception. These cues leave a map in my mind. A fascination with Monocular Cures and vision has inspired this work. Monocular vision reinforces many guidelines of representational drawing, such as the establishing a station point. This current body of work explores devices that provide concrete representations of these concepts for others to reinforce their own representational drawing skills. When viewing my work I strongly encourage the viewer to close one eye.”
New exhibits are featured monthly at the Hardee Center for the Arts during NFCC’s fall and spring terms. Join NFCC Tuesday, April 5 to celebrate and view the April exhibit, A Dialogue of Space Described. Regular hours for the NFCC Hardee Center for the Arts are Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information, contact Lisa Barden, NFCC art instructor, at (850) 973-1642, email BardenL@nfcc.edu or visit www.nfcc.edu (search Visual Arts).
