By snoadmin
Animated shapes, bold colors and textures draw viewers into the world of wheel-thrown and handmade ceramics that tell a story of rebirth. “Faith,” an exhibit by BFA ceramics senior Natalie Shay, is on display in the West Gatov Gallery.
Shay uses ceramic sculptures, drawings and paintings to depict her experience as a disabled 15-year-old girl and her growth into a strong, independent woman.
“I was 15 when I suffered a brain aneurism,” Shay said. “I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to talk about my journey to get where I am today.”
On the left side of the room, ceramic wings are hung from the walls and have a broken heart nestled in it.
There are seven of these sculptures, and each shows a different stage in the heart and the wings that represent Shay’s 14-year journey.
“I was reborn,” Shay said. “I had to relearn how to walk, talk, eat and speak. All the functions we take for granted, I had to relearn, like a baby.”
The first sculpture shows a closed set of wings with a shattered heart within it. The second has no heart in it to portray the emptiness that comes after such a life changing experience.
The third and fourth wings show the heart, still shattered but in process of repairing itself. The wings are open slightly wider as the heart comes together, and represent the process of rebirth and rebuilding life.
The fifth and sixth wings show the heart as a whole but still with deep cracks in it. The wing opens up a little wider. The last and final wings are fully spread and the heart is completely repaired but has a scar in the center, as a reminder of the experience.
Alongside the wings, there is a vase adorned with rose buds and flourished with red roses. In the vase, there are 14 long-stem, handmade clay roses that represent each year since Shay’s experience.
A 15th rose is laid next to the vase and will be added to the bunch on the 15th anniversary of her aneurism.
“I relate all my artwork to my life and my story,” Shay said. “My art represents [the] strength, courage and effort that comes with telling my story and opening up to my experience.”
According to Shay, she put a painting in her BFA ceramics show because, painting and drawing came so easily to her. It took a while for her to put her experience into ceramics, painting and drawing.
The painting shows a small girl being coddled by an angel. Real feathers make up the wings, adding texture and multi-dimensionality to the painting. The background is a collage of different shades of blues and whites that make up the sky.
Shay charged on the paint to create texture and made sure the purest of whites and darkest of blues had their own spectrum and space in the painting. She didn’t blend the paint, but added enough of it to look like clouds and sky.
“I felt protected,” Shay said. “Like I had a guardian angel with me the whole time. It’s the reason why I’m still here.”
Shay continues to say that most people only get one shot at life, but she got a second chance. She said she is living life with no regrets and putting forth her art to inspire people to take advantage of life and appreciate it at all times.
She also brings forth a message for the community members with a disability and parents raising children with disability. She said someone with a disability should not be dismissed because they can really blow your mind with what they can do.
“I don’t want people to feel sorry for me,” Shay said. “I want people to know what I’ve been through and smile to know that if I can do it, they can do it to.”
This entire collection is host to bright colors, and awe-inspiring concepts. The techniques used when wheel-throwing and hand-built the sculptures were literally made single handedly by Shay due to a lack of functionality in her right hand.
For more on Shay’s story and her artwork, visit her exhibit in the West Gatov Galleries until 5 p.m. today.
The student art galleries are open from noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. They are located between the FA2 and FA3 buildings.
