Students worked to complete the exhibit alongside Judith Braun.
“Hot Mess,” a collaboration by three visiting artists, brings colorful mixed-media drawings to the walls of the Laura Mesaros Gallery. Hannah March Sanders, Dawn Martin Dickens and Judith Braun each participated in a one-week residency at the College of Creative Arts and Media, working with students to bring their visions to life.
Braun, whose residency completed the project, said the artists had a general idea of the others’ contributions, but the process challenged them to find cohesion among different styles and perspectives.
“In general, I like to have control over all aspects of making and showing my work but when we all met via Zoom, this idea to interweave our work, rather than to each take a wall, clicked for all of us as something fun and daring to try,” Braun said. “So, we agreed to take on the challenge to ‘see what happens’ to give the project a kind of mystery.”
During the week of September 12, Sanders installed her portion of the exhibit – colorfully crocheted pieces made from naturally dyed synthetic fabrics inspired by the shapes of snakes.
The following week, Dickens used charcoal and acrylic paint to add a war scene directly on the gallery walls. She also created bombs on wood paneling that appear to be falling from the ceiling and incorporated Sanders’ crocheted pieces into the trails and parachutes.
Braun completed “Hot Mess” in early October by adding text and using charcoal fingerprints to create orbs around the scene.
During their residencies, Sanders, Dickens and Braun gave visiting artists lectures and worked closely with School of Art and Design students to complete each portion.
“Each artist we met had a different process and style requiring different preparations and applications in the space,” said Dakota Flanagan, whose sculpture class aided in the exhibit’s creation. “I really enjoyed being in an art space so open to collaboration and feeling that our feedback was genuinely considered and appreciated.”
“Hot Mess” is free and open to the public through November 5. The Laura Mesaros Gallery is located just inside the main entrance of the Canady Creative Arts Center, and is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For information about upcoming installations, visit https://creativeartsandmedia.wvu.edu/events.