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Meredith Butler

LBST Arts and Society

The McColl Center Responses

The first piece I chose to write about in the McColl center was Mary Tsiongass piece

No Time for Trees #1. This was one of a series that was scattered throughout the gallery but I

especially liked this one. The piece is a lithograph, an image made by etching the image onto a

surface and copying it by applying it to the etching and pressing in onto another surface. The

piece has the aged rings that one would fine in the trunk of a tree that had been cut down as well

as three silhouettes of two soldiers, a boy on a swing, and two animals grazing. While the

silhouettes are grey and hazy, the background is yellow with the tree rings contrasting in a soft

blue that can be seen through the figures, making them more like shadows. The silhouettes and

trees rings are fairly balanced so there is no sole focus to the piece but allows the person looking

to take in the entire piece. I liked this piece because of its contrast but also because it wasnt

quite as negative as some of the other pieces in the gallery. I could connect with the overall

piece since I often get so caught up in my troubles and everything happening in the world that I

often forget about the surrounding environment and what we might be doing to it. Personally, I

think thats the message Tsionga is trying to show: we get so caught up in our progress and

making the world a better place for humans that we dont realize what were doing to our

environment. Were so busy moving forward, we make no time for trees or for our ecosystem

anymore.

While at the McColl Center I was really intrigued with Natalie Andrews style and art

pieces so for my first response, I chose her piece Wonderlust Evolution. This piece is a

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miniature, but living ecosystem. Within it is a group or forest of spike-like figures made of clay

matched with soft moss, lichens, and a miniature pond with a fog machine to keep the moss wet

and thus, still alive. Also spread across the piece is small figurines of people that are stark white

against the green moss. Everything in the piece is living except the man-made spikes and

figurines. The spikes serves to balance the springy moss and overall there is a very mysterious

but intriguing mood to the piece. This was my absolute favorite piece Ive probably seen so far

in the entire class because its so detailed and theres always seems to be more to see. But I was

also able to feel really inspired with the natural element as well. I didnt even recognize the

small figurines at first, but after I saw them I loved the piece even more. It wasnt just a piece on

nature like a lot of the other pieces in the gallery, now it had a more positive connection with

humanity. Culturally wise, this piece also stuck out from the others. I loved the entire gallery,

but a lot of the themes from the other pieces were about the damaging relationship between man

and nature, such as Mary Tsiongas piece. However, for this one I felt there was a cultural

statement of balance between nature and man. The piece is living and its inhabitants are as well

but the figurines do nothing to take away from the beauty of the piece, for me they even

enhanced it. The piece was beautiful and inspiring; if the real world could have such a mutual

and intriguing relationship as this piece thered be hope that we could still save our natural

resources.