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Tom Halsall, a professor who has taught at the college since 1972, will present an exhibition of his work at the Valhalla campus from April 8 to May 23. A reception will be held May 9 from 4 to 8 p.m.
The paintings in the exhibition are inspired by the Dada and Surrealist art movements of the European avant-garde of the early 20th century, Halsall said.
“My work begins with drawn and found images, which are arranged into intuitive compositions,” he said. “Themes then emerge which allow for the visualization of my subconscious mind through fantastic images derived from the natural world and other strange curiosities. All of this simulacra is then transferred onto stretched canvas, where I continue the process of drawing and painting with acrylic colors, polymer mediums, inks and felt tip markers.”
The resulting works are “fragmented social allegories exploring the fleeting nature of reality and our lives,” Halsall said.
“I believe there exists in the mind a place where life and death, the real and the imagined, and the old and the new cease to remain contradictions," he said. "Is it possible to use this place in our minds for the common good? Is a sustainable and humane world that recognizes the inter-connectedness between all living things possible?”
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