Cafe Antoine Exhibit featuring artists Alexandra Ballard, Luke Hamel, and Amalya Megerman

Antoine PosterFrom Amalya Megerman ’16:

Artists usually like to make statements that tell people what to see in their work, but I feel that can often cloud or hinder what the observer is able to take away. It can steer the viewer towards a more artificial experience. I’d rather leave the experience all in your hands. I’ll share what inspires me and allow you to take it from there.

I think too often we miss the blessings and details in everyday life. I think it’s something we are all guilty of. I turn to art to remind myself of the value in the simplest things. It’s so easy to live life from day to day without truly seeing what is around us. I think that is one of the most powerful things about art: to get people to stop, look and think. Making art and experiencing it affords us an opportunity to take a step back and be fully present in the moment – one of art’s greatest gifts in my opinion.

From Luke Hamel ’16:

For some, art is a way to make life more beautiful than it is.  It has the ability to infuse meaning and value into otherwise meaningless events or objects, and for this reason, it has a therapeutic effect.  Art can soothe the feelings of loss, regret, and shame that come with human existence, and for some people, that soothing effect is more important than the creation of a beautiful or admirable object.  Freud might have called it sublimation; others could describe it as psychological first aid.  The Mark is an unfolding narrative in art and poetry following the story of an unknown protagonist who embarks on a personal journey and ultimately falls short in their quest.  Its images, both repetitive and changing, mark the protagonist’s internal conflicts and shifting mental landscape as they mutate (and somehow remain the same) over time.