Art can be captivating and entirely enhancive beyond measure. After all, the world can escape through a piece of art and it’s way of telling a different story based upon one’s idea of the work. For those that were not aware, art is defined as “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.”
The real question remains, how many of us have found our art or even our way of being expressive? If you found it, what does it look it? How does it make others feel or yourself? When you find something that allows you to strike beauty or evoke emotion to overtake another emotionally solely by a single glance, have you succeed in creating art? For example, Circle of Nerds is one body, grouped together by diverse individuals that express, evoke, illustrate and succeed at creating different works of art. With this, we are proud to share with you our art as well as showcasing local artists. The purpose of this is to exemplify that regardless of who you are or what you do that constitutes you to be a ‘nerd’, you belong in The Circle.
This week I had the opportunity to witness an amazing local artist that not only expressed her art in a visual form, but evoked beauty and emotional power through each of her pieces. Wally Kaplan, a local artist placed her artwork in the hands of the Solon Center for the Arts. “The Eyes Have It” featured culturally explosive and diverse artwork in the form of real people. She stated that her inspiration came from her travels as well as the different individuals that she met. Her artwork was raw and thought provoking to say the least. I have always found it intriguing how far the mind is able to go in order to create a piece of work, regardless of what that may be. What’s even more intriguing is how ones mind can interpret one piece, yet another might interpret it completely different.
Perception is a beautiful concept. The way Wally accentuates the eyes so the viewer is automatically hooked exemplifies her ability to captivate and evoke emotion. This was the first piece I saw on social media. I was eager and hungry to see more of her art.
So I did.
My favorite piece was what appeared to be a younger female child whose eyes pierced of hurt. Seemingly lost of hope or extinguished by defeat. The way her eyes droop downward signifies this for myself and I found solace in this piece. When one is hurting, we shut ourselves out to the rest of the world only to feel the pain in solitude. I related this piece to my childhood due to the massive amount of bullying I received for being a person of color in a state that was predominately caucasian. My smile seemed luminous yet thine eyes screamed four letters: help. Looking at this picture was brought up a past that once seemed haunting yet here I am almost 11 years later doing better than I ever would have imagined. There is solace in pain sometimes, if only we allow ourselves to feel it.
Next time you see a local artist, go support them. Engage, share, be inquisitive to their art and allow them to captive your mind in a way you might not have seemed possible.
Wally Kaplan evoked happiness, sadness, and curiosity for myself just through a few diverse pieces. Imagine what a multitude of creativity could induce or on the other end of the spectrum, if you used to create art and do not anymore, start again. One may never know what could come from it and us in the Circle want to share, engage, and be inquisitive about your art!
Want to know more about this artist? Go visit her at www.wallysart.com, email her at wally@wallysart.com.
