By Juan Ibarra/campus editor
The Lakeview Gallery is hosting Inherited Moments, a series of works from guest artists H. Jennings Sheffield and Chris Ireland.
Until Feb. 20, students can see Ordinary Time by Ireland and Tethered by Sheffield in a partnership where they portray connections and relationships created over time.
“Three to four times a year, the gallery exhibits new art and artists. It keeps everyone motivated,” said NW art associate professor Christian deLeon.
The importance of hosting guest artists is for the growth and development of the students, he said. Bringing in new artists helps students see new perspectives and grow their passion in ways they might not have thought of previously.
“As you can imagine, students get comfortable with their teachers and their surroundings,” deLeon said. “Some sort of change is necessary.”
Ordinary Time consists of pairs of photographs revolving around Ireland’s home and family life. Each photo in a pair represents daily routines in Ireland’s home life ten years apart.
This series studies the feeling of loss and change that occurs over time, according to Ireland’s website.
“I had photographed my mom and dad throughout my late 20s, and I stopped for awhile due to random life changes,” Ireland said. “I started shooting again when my mom fell ill, and the series kind of organically started from there.”
The span of 10 years allowed him to shoot the photos and highlight that rituals don’t change over the years, they just get slightly altered as dynamics change, he said.
“My family values routine,” he said. “So, it was easy to pair up the images by time and see relationships. Some things have changed, most things haven’t.”
Tethered contains a series of photographs taken over the period of four months, with a photo being taken every 30 minutes, according to Sheffield’s website. All the photos are digitally spliced and displayed together in thin vertical slices to create one image.
Sheffield said her inspiration for creating the series was the different parts of her life evolving and becoming more intertwined.
“On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I was an artist,” she said. “On Tuesdays and Thursdays, unable to afford daycare, I was home being a mother. However, in comparison to past generations, where work and family life rarely converged, technology today causes our lives and roles to constantly fold over on each other.”
Sheffield is an associate professor at Baylor University, and Ireland is an associate professor at Tarleton State University. They decided to bring their work to TCC largely because of their passion for teaching.
“I believe it is important to expose students to all types of art and different genres,” she said. “It is important for students to see the various intentions and methodologies different artists use.”
This isn’t the first time both artists have worked together on an exhibit.
“Jennings and I share a unique bond and work together with ease,” Ireland said. “It helps that our work is so similar, yet we are different enough that we push each other to look at things differently and to make different kinds of work.”.
Constructing the Psychographic was an installation in Dallas at the 500x Gallery created by the pair in April 2018 where they collected data from their Facebook feeds over the course of seven days. They used this data and set up a room with screenshots of Facebook posts and comments as wallpaper.
“The collaboration we did for the 500x Gallery a year ago was very different than my normal work, it was not overtly personal and somewhat political,” Ireland said. “I think we have some more good ideas in us once we get our brains working together again.”
The passion for collaboration and creating art allowed the two artists to work together on a project that is more intimate than their previous dual effort. Inherited Moments utilizes the lives of the two artists and is showcased in a way that the artist’s hope relates to the students.
“Inherited Moments might be my favorite project yet,” Sheffield said. “TCC is our first time installing Inherited Moments, and I am eager to see how the exhibition comes together. This project is so personal to both Chris and me, and I am excited to where it goes.”
