Feb 21 - Mar 21 -- In Between and Beyond -- Art by Jeremy Lilwall --
W alla Walla Community College Art Space

Artist Statement:

What interests me is the search, this primary force behind why we keep asking questions; the way our psyches can cause calamity and lead us astray, or bloom into an epiphany that might help us evolve. The symbols that we search out and use in order to guide us to a larger understanding have always been of great importance to me. In order to translate our mental and spiritual explorations, it seems as though symbols and myth are necessary in man’s search for meaning and it is in these symbols, both personal, and possibly universal, that I continue to transubstantiate my thoughts into being. Carl Jung’s musings on our need for myth and how the modern world has squelched our ability to wonder past the here and now have spoken to me clearly and found their way into my work. In using visible symbols to describe invisible worlds, it has become necessary to incorporate not only images, but also the element of writing on the picture plane to further express my ideas and whisper hints from inner realms. My hope is that my work will be approached with a collaborative spirit, for the audience to expand this spark, this instance that I have rendered with their own imagination and their own set of symbols. Take these stories and run with them.

Biography:

Jeremy Lilwall attended Catholic schools K-12 in Walla Walla, Washington, drawing the whole way through. He attended one year of Walla Walla Community College and completed his BFA with three years at Whitman College to earn a Studio Art degree. After his formal schooling, Jeremy became an apprentice to the lost wax method of bronze casting at several surrounding foundries, learning and eventually overseeing in management positions, the entire process of sculpture unfold and inspire. He was especially influenced by the patina process, of which he specializes in currently. The layering of colors and textures motivated him to experiment with the same concept in the 2-D realm, eventually incorporating with his chalk pastels the elements of paint, cloth, plants, and graphite to excavate the depths of the picture plane. He has explored the exaggeration of color and form, investigating his own symbols as well as those in classic mythology. Just as the intervening years have brought possibility through materials, so have they opened up Lilwall’s further exploration of philosophy, psychology, and theology. Propelled thinkers such as Carl Jung and Albert Einstein, he continues to delve into the artistic process in order to extract and translate his ever-expanding search.