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The Still Life
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Still Life Drawings
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Project writeup
One of the hidden joys of my teaching practice is creating still lifes for my drawing students to respond to. In October of 2021, I was given access to the McCoy Art Gallery at Merrimack College, and full use of not only the still-life cabinets, but also the entirety of the theater programs props closest. From these resources, I created Still.Life. an interactive, educational-based installation. Placed around the gallery were multiple easels, drawing pads, and drawing materials such as graphite sticks and pencils. From October to December 2021, Merrimack students, staff, and factually were invited to visit the exhibition at respond to the still life.
A blurb from the exhibition's instructions:
The studio arts program at Merrimack College, strives to perpetually challenge the boundaries of the traditional still life by creating complex visual scenarios for its students. This exhibition uses the conceptual, historical, and cliched frameworks of a traditional still life to present our interpretation of a more interesting and challenging composition to be rendered.
If you have years of experience drawing, fantastic. Go nuts. If you have never picked up a piece of charcoal in your life, you’re still in the right place. The act of drawing can be one of the most meditative acts a person can engage with. Have fun with this exhibition. Think about what you are actually seeing, not what your brain is trying to tell you to see. At its core, drawing is not about rendering the perfect image, but the symbiotic relationship between the eye, the brain, and the hand.
-Jonathan Latiano
Director of the Art and Art History Program, 2021
One of the hidden joys of my teaching practice is creating still lifes for my drawing students to respond to. In October of 2021, I was given access to the McCoy Art Gallery at Merrimack College, and full use of not only the still-life cabinets, but also the entirety of the theater programs props closest. From these resources, I created Still.Life. an interactive, educational-based installation. Placed around the gallery were multiple easels, drawing pads, and drawing materials such as graphite sticks and pencils. From October to December 2021, Merrimack students, staff, and factually were invited to visit the exhibition at respond to the still life.
A blurb from the exhibition's instructions:
The studio arts program at Merrimack College, strives to perpetually challenge the boundaries of the traditional still life by creating complex visual scenarios for its students. This exhibition uses the conceptual, historical, and cliched frameworks of a traditional still life to present our interpretation of a more interesting and challenging composition to be rendered.
If you have years of experience drawing, fantastic. Go nuts. If you have never picked up a piece of charcoal in your life, you’re still in the right place. The act of drawing can be one of the most meditative acts a person can engage with. Have fun with this exhibition. Think about what you are actually seeing, not what your brain is trying to tell you to see. At its core, drawing is not about rendering the perfect image, but the symbiotic relationship between the eye, the brain, and the hand.
-Jonathan Latiano
Director of the Art and Art History Program, 2021