The University of Mary Washington Galleries is pleased to present our Intern Curated Online Exhibition: Dark Feelings and the Human Experience. This virtual exhibition was designed, researched, and prepared by UMW Galleries Interns Kathleen Daly, Kaelyn Escuadra, Mackenzie Hoffman, Taylor Johnson, Caroline Patton, and Karla Santos. Please click HERE to view the exhibition.
Dark Feelings is an exhibition about expressing your feelings through the use of art. The art provides a visual to viewers making it relatable to the audience allowing them to not feel alone and that it is okay to have those feelings. At some point in our lives, we will experience despair, grief, and fear. At the end of this tunnel, there will be the light of hope. The artists in this exhibition have a connection to the University of Mary Washington either by being a professor, a student, donating their work to the school, or having had their work purchased by the school.
For all the artists, art was an outlet to express their feelings. An example of this is a piece titled Dark Place by Helen Mirkil. This piece is about the artist doing a self-portrait looking into a mirror reflecting on their emotions during a difficult time in their life. At the time, the artist was going through a divorce while having two young children. With most of Mirkil’s self-portraits, the artist mostly focuses on their interior of themselves vs their exterior. This piece is an example that at some point in people’s lives, they take a moment to reflect on what is going on in their personal lives. Dark Place is a piece that ties in with our Dark Feelings exhibit because of the human experience of having their heart broken at a point in their life and reflecting on the experience.
Hours & Admission: The exhibition will be on view starting May 20th.
Writing Attribution: Many thanks to UMW Galleries Intern Karla Santos for her research throughout the semester and the writing of this press release.
Featured Artwork: Ben Shahn, Moses, 1958. Ink on paper. UMW Permanent Collection.
