Ohio Wesleyan Graduates Share Vibrant Visions in New Exhibitions
‘Abstract Art Comes from Volcanoes’ by Ohio Wesleyan alumnus Clark Winter will be among the photographs on display from Sept. 30 through Nov. 2 as part of Winter’s ‘The Wonder of It All’ exhibition at the Richard M. Ross Art Museum.
DELAWARE, Ohio – Pamela Becker observes the natural world around her, distills it to its essence, and rebuilds it using colors, shapes, and textures that imbue it with fresh intensity and energy. Clark Winter searches for wonder in everything he sees, and uses his camera to capture glimpses of a world that provides “amazement even in the simplest moments” for those who truly look.
These Ohio Wesleyan University alumni and accomplished artists will be exhibiting their work at OWU’s Richard M. Ross Art Museum from Sept. 30 to Nov. 2. The artists also will visit campus on separate occasions in October to discuss their muses and media in free, public presentations.
“If we simply see things as they are, it’s quite fascinating,” says Winter, an OWU fine arts major now living in Connecticut. “Endlessly intricate, interwoven, and inexplicably curiously rewarding. These pictures reflect what I call ‘the wonder of it all.’ Not that everything is wonderful by any means, but rather there’s wonder and amazement even in the simplest moments.”
One of the images in Winter’s “The Wonder of It All” exhibit is a photograph of a diorama on display at a children’s museum. The diorama seeks to illustrate what happens during a volcanic eruption. But stuck in the Plexiglas covering the display are several colorful, plastic pushpins. The whimsy of the resulting image caught Winter’s artistic eye.
“The way I see it, the volcano gives astounding energy to the birth of little pieces of Alexander Calder sculptures,” Winter says. “Abstract art is everywhere.”
Winter will give an illustrated talk at 3:10 p.m. Oct. 2 in Room 121 of Edgar Hall, 35 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. The discussion will be followed by a reception at 4 p.m. at the nearby Ross Art Museum.
In addition to being a respected artist, Winter is an internationally known investor and commentator on geopolitics and global financial markets. Learn more about Winter at www.clarkwinterphotography.com.
‘Tonga Bay,’ painted fabric construction by Pamela Becker, will be part of the OWU alumna’s ‘Metamorphosis’ exhibit Sept. 30 through Nov. 2 at the Ross Art Museum.
While Winter uses a camera to capture the wonder of his world as it exists, Becker reinvents her surroundings using myriad materials and endless imagination.
“Whether walking on a beach or working in the garden, exploring and recording what I see has always been my interest,” says Becker, a New Jersey resident who majored in romance languages at Ohio Wesleyan. “Consider the ephemeral quality of light shining onto and through the leaves of trees, the foam created when a wave breaks, or the amazing things a sunset does to the color of clouds. It is in seeking to understand and relate the various aspects of a subject to each other that I find my subject matter.”
One of the pieces in Becker’s “Metamorphosis” exhibit is a painted fabric construction depicting Tonga Bay.
“Working with layers of fabric to reconstruct images of the landscape has occupied me for over twenty years,” Becker says. “When hung on the wall, gravity allows each piece to take the shape which has been built into it. Then the work becomes part of the flow, which is the river of my memories.”
Becker will give a gallery talk at 4:10 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Ross Art Museum. Of her work, Hildreth York of the Hunterdon Art Museum in New Jersey has said: “Pamela Becker’s art is about patterns and constructs. They are the personal, authoritative esthetic signatures of this artist.” Learn more about Becker at pamelaebecker.com.
Ohio Wesleyan’s Richard M. Ross Art Museum, 60 S. Sandusky St., Delaware, is open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is handicap-accessible and admission is always free. Call (740) 368-3606 or visit https://www.owu.edu/about/offices-services/richard-m-ross-art-museum/ for more information.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers 86 undergraduate majors and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Ohio Wesleyan combines a challenging, internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities to connect classroom theory with real-world experience. OWU’s 1,750 students represent 46 U.S. states and territories and 43 countries. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the latest President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.