OHHS Art and Design Teacher Exhibiting at DAAPmade 2!
OHHS Art and Design teacher, Jamie Schorsch, recently had her work “Persephone” selected for the DAAP Made 2 Exhibition!
The exhibition is a showcase for the talents within and the alumni of the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (UC DAAP). The curated exhibition of contemporary artwork highlights work created by DAAP alums, professors, emeriti, and graduate students using diverse media and techniques with a focus on innovative trends in Contemporary Art.
Artist Statement
Greek mythology attributes the establishment of seasons to the Goddess Demeter, who brings about barren soils and withering crops during the months of her daughter Persephone’s departure and blooms and new life upon her return from Hades. “Persephone” is an autobiographic intrinsic, and extrinsic, evaluation of the personal experiences and concepts of the seasons of life. The lexicon of floral imagery is rooted in symbolism related to the analysis of personal life events that have impacted the construction of my own identity. The narrative piece constructs a conceptual and visual dialogue based upon the dichotomous nature of life, much like the branching of flora themselves. The left side of the double portrait is populated by fallen leaves, sticks, and the cypress; a plant commonly associated with death, mourning, despair, and sorrow. Through varying religions, mythologies, and philosophies, the left side is often associated with darkness, or emergence from darkness, and represents seasons of life characterized by bleakness. The flora on the right side serves to counterbalance the season of despair through the incorporation of azaleas, dandelions, and celandines. Azaleas serve as a representation of gratitude, temperance, and womanhood while the celandines represent joys to come. The dandelion, incorporated for its association with overcoming hardships, is represented both in bloom and in decay in order to emphasize the cyclical nature of the ascending and descending phases of life. To echo the symbolic dialogue, the rendering style on the left of the image is mechanical and desaturated in an effort to emphasize the sense of decay while the right is softly saturated and chromatic to allude to the vibrancy of life. The bird depicted, the Nuthatch, was specifically selected for its symbolic representation of cycling through processes of life events. The Nuthatch serves as a moderator between the phases of life and stands in confrontation with the season of despair or as an observer of the “duet of shade and light” within one’s life.
There will be an exhibition opening reception from 6-9pm on September 3rd, 2021, and the showcase will run through October 2nd at the Indian Hill Gallery located at 9475 Loveland Madeira Road, Cincinnati, OH 45242.
