About Place
About Place
ABOUT PLACE: Rowan Students Respond to Ellen Harvey
January 16 - March 9, 2024
301 West High Street Gallery
During the Fall semester 2023, Intermediate and Advanced Painting students of Professor Nancy Sophy in the Department of Art were asked to reflect on Ellen Harvey’s series, The Disappointed Tourist, and to create their own painting inspired by her work around ideas of place and memory. Thanks to the Rowan University Art Gallery & Museum, painting students were able to attend an artist talk with Ellen Harvey in November 2023, and enjoyed the opportunity to learn from her and discuss her paintings and artistic process.
Jobe Weaver
A Hallway to Nowhere
Acrylic on Canvas
20x16”
I’ve been looking at Francis Bacon’s paintings lately. I enjoy how he takes a common idea (portraits) and distorts them. I wanted to bring that feeling to this painting, with the subject being a hallway I had in a dream. I wanted to emphasize the strangeness of dreams while retaining a familiarity with a place we all know – hallways.
Paige Parker
Don’t Be a Stranger
Acrylic on Canvas
16x20”
My piece is based off the idea of seeing someone you once knew very well, after they essentially become a stranger. I decided on a busy urban landscape setting to illustrate the loneliness of a place full of people you don’t know. It was my goal for the viewer to follow the pathway, to look at the subject and look for the person who moved on with their life. I hope that at least one person can find solace in the connection they establish with this narrative.
Don’t Be a Stranger
Acrylic on Canvas
16x20”
My piece is based off the idea of seeing someone you once knew very well, after they essentially become a stranger. I decided on a busy urban landscape setting to illustrate the loneliness of a place full of people you don’t know. It was my goal for the viewer to follow the pathway, to look at the subject and look for the person who moved on with their life. I hope that at least one person can find solace in the connection they establish with this narrative.
Marc Gray
Old Paris Alley
Oil on Canvas
20x16”
My painting depicts an old narrow alleyway in Paris. The street was wet, and the color of the composition mimics a sepia filtered photograph.
Old Paris Alley
Oil on Canvas
20x16”
My painting depicts an old narrow alleyway in Paris. The street was wet, and the color of the composition mimics a sepia filtered photograph.
Emily Murray
Stormy Night
Oil on Canvas
16x20”
The setting of this painting is in my apartment from my sophomore year in college. There was a snowstorm overnight and the outside was hazy and almost serene with the way the snow was falling. I remember finding comfort in the storm, and enjoyed revisiting that moment in this painting.
Stormy Night
Oil on Canvas
16x20”
The setting of this painting is in my apartment from my sophomore year in college. There was a snowstorm overnight and the outside was hazy and almost serene with the way the snow was falling. I remember finding comfort in the storm, and enjoyed revisiting that moment in this painting.
Tyler Carlozo
Mack and Manco
Acrylic on Canvas
16x20”
A pizza joint famous in Ocean City, NJ by the name Manco and Manco was once called Mack and Manco. When I was a child we would visit OC all the time – the feeling of sitting down eating pizza then going on various rides and playing mini golf then getting Mack and Manco was part of the ritual, a key component. Just like Mack and Manco nothing ever stays the same, just like how you can’t stay a child forever. The memory of what this place used to be holds its importance for that it is not a place to visit but the feelings its memory brings through its name.
Mack and Manco
Acrylic on Canvas
16x20”
A pizza joint famous in Ocean City, NJ by the name Manco and Manco was once called Mack and Manco. When I was a child we would visit OC all the time – the feeling of sitting down eating pizza then going on various rides and playing mini golf then getting Mack and Manco was part of the ritual, a key component. Just like Mack and Manco nothing ever stays the same, just like how you can’t stay a child forever. The memory of what this place used to be holds its importance for that it is not a place to visit but the feelings its memory brings through its name.
Maurice Pearson
Narruticon Lake Park
Oil on Canvas
16 x 20”
This painting shows a park in the town where I live during a rainy afternoon, with no children present. The lack of human presence highlights the structure of the playset instead of the functions of the things that comprise it. The painting juxtaposes the organic woods around with the machine construction of the playset.
Narruticon Lake Park
Oil on Canvas
16 x 20”
This painting shows a park in the town where I live during a rainy afternoon, with no children present. The lack of human presence highlights the structure of the playset instead of the functions of the things that comprise it. The painting juxtaposes the organic woods around with the machine construction of the playset.
Taylor Brown
Hurricane Ian
Oil on Canvas
16x20”
This painting is based on a location I would always visit in Sanibel Island, Florida. After Hurricane Ian hit in fall of 2022, the island was destroyed and construction is still being done to rebuild it. When I visited the island after the hurricane there was so much sea life washed up and this is what that painting represents.
Hurricane Ian
Oil on Canvas
16x20”
This painting is based on a location I would always visit in Sanibel Island, Florida. After Hurricane Ian hit in fall of 2022, the island was destroyed and construction is still being done to rebuild it. When I visited the island after the hurricane there was so much sea life washed up and this is what that painting represents.
Kat Adams
On the Bay
Oil on Canvas
20x16”
This painting is based on a photo taken on the bay of Dewey Beach, Delaware, during a trip I took with my siblings a few years ago. I have a strong relationship with my siblings as they are very important areas of support in my life and have very fond memories from this trip. The painting evokes feelings of calm and nostalgia.
On the Bay
Oil on Canvas
20x16”
This painting is based on a photo taken on the bay of Dewey Beach, Delaware, during a trip I took with my siblings a few years ago. I have a strong relationship with my siblings as they are very important areas of support in my life and have very fond memories from this trip. The painting evokes feelings of calm and nostalgia.
Andrea Gonzalez Gomez
Pela Rua de Engenheiro
Acrylic on Canvas
20x16”
The painting depicts a street in the city of Engenheiro Coelho, SP, Brazil. The scene is one of the last walks I took when I was there. It represents a memory of what my life used to be, a blurry feeling of ‘saudade’ of what used to be. The essence of what it felt to walk the street on my way to buy ‘pastel.’ The work of Tracy Emin and Cy Twombly inspired me to incorporate abstractness to fuel the imagery of a memory.
Cameryn Coombe
untitled
Oil on Canvas
20x16”
When initially considering the assignment, I immediately thought of my old playroom as a kid. This has since turned into my bedroom. I felt this is a significant change from childhood to adulthood. I feel the meaning of childhood loss and change comes through.
untitled
Oil on Canvas
20x16”
When initially considering the assignment, I immediately thought of my old playroom as a kid. This has since turned into my bedroom. I felt this is a significant change from childhood to adulthood. I feel the meaning of childhood loss and change comes through.
Adam Legg
Leatherwood Farms
Oil on Canvas
16 x 20”
Leatherwood Farm is an asparagus farm in rural South Jersey, a farm I grew up on working for. It is no longer in business, the idea behind this piece was to preserve a memory of a place that still exists but is no longer the place I know.
Leatherwood Farms
Oil on Canvas
16 x 20”
Leatherwood Farm is an asparagus farm in rural South Jersey, a farm I grew up on working for. It is no longer in business, the idea behind this piece was to preserve a memory of a place that still exists but is no longer the place I know.
Christine Stewart
Return to Liberation
Acrylic & Oil on Canvas
16x20”
A gateway to the past, recontextualized and rendered in the abstract. The work is inspired by three places that queer liberation occurred and changed public perception of LGBTQIA+ people, notably trans and nonbinary people. I pulled inspiration from Yoji Shinkawa and the harsh reds, black and purples he utilizes when rendering a painting with emotions.
Return to Liberation
Acrylic & Oil on Canvas
16x20”
A gateway to the past, recontextualized and rendered in the abstract. The work is inspired by three places that queer liberation occurred and changed public perception of LGBTQIA+ people, notably trans and nonbinary people. I pulled inspiration from Yoji Shinkawa and the harsh reds, black and purples he utilizes when rendering a painting with emotions.
Marley Schiman
Break
Oil on Canvas
20x16”
This painting depicts a figure in a suburban basement surrounded by a “cloud” of red representing their mental anguish, particularly the kind of emotional turmoil created by the pandemic. The painting was created without reference to pictures, as the basement is burned into my memory. The mix of vagueness and specificity lends itself to the idea of memories of a place.
Break
Oil on Canvas
20x16”
This painting depicts a figure in a suburban basement surrounded by a “cloud” of red representing their mental anguish, particularly the kind of emotional turmoil created by the pandemic. The painting was created without reference to pictures, as the basement is burned into my memory. The mix of vagueness and specificity lends itself to the idea of memories of a place.
Matt Guerrero
A Light that Never Goes Out
Oil on Canvas
20x16”
My painting depicts a lighthouse and a splash based off a lighthouse in Portland, Maine. I have always felt a sort of calling to the ocean and wanted to share that. When making the painting, I was thinking about the Fighting Temeraire by J.M.W. Turner. The ocean has always been a huge interest for me and I wanted to show this.
A Light that Never Goes Out
Oil on Canvas
20x16”
My painting depicts a lighthouse and a splash based off a lighthouse in Portland, Maine. I have always felt a sort of calling to the ocean and wanted to share that. When making the painting, I was thinking about the Fighting Temeraire by J.M.W. Turner. The ocean has always been a huge interest for me and I wanted to show this.
Christopher Duran
Dreaming of Paris
Oil on Canvas
16x20”
The content of my painting is Paris, focusing on the water, the bridge and the Eiffel Tower. Paris is a place that me and my mom want to visit someday, so I wanted the piece to make my mother feel like she can go to Paris just by looking at my art.
Dreaming of Paris
Oil on Canvas
16x20”
The content of my painting is Paris, focusing on the water, the bridge and the Eiffel Tower. Paris is a place that me and my mom want to visit someday, so I wanted the piece to make my mother feel like she can go to Paris just by looking at my art.