Two exhibitions will open on Oct. 14 at the Tyler Art Gallery featuring SUNY Oswego art and design faculty members Renqian Yang and Cara Brewer Thompson.
Each artist will present an exhibition of new work that was created during their sabbaticals for the exhibition, which will run through Nov. 15 in the first-floor Tyler Hall gallery space.
Yang's exhibition "Folding Time Between Worlds" was created during her 2023 sabbatical when she traveled back to her home country of China, and created this body of work that focuses on reconnecting themes she was exploring before she immigrated to the U.S, to her current method of making. Her art explores the dance between opposing forces — restraint and liberation, pessimism and optimism. Rooted in her migration and survival experiences, she molds clay to embody vulnerabilities, desires and emotions, capturing time and space within each piece. In Yang's hands, clay becomes a medium for both liberation and fluidity.
Thompson’s exhibit, "Based on Actual Events," will feature work from her fall 2019 sabbatical -- the exhibition for it was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. The work centers around her time spent on the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia in November 2019. Additional prints and animations from "Pond, a Portrait" (an ongoing project inspired by the farm pond on the acreage behind her house) are also on display. Her current work is focused on the natural world and half-invented, half-remembered landscapes. Thompson has a passion for 3D modeling and animation and a secret love of cheesy Hollywood sets, particularly low-budget science fiction of the early 1970s. She loves merging the digital and natural worlds and embraces the use of technology in her work.
Related events
Two artist talks and one musical performance will take place in the gallery during the exhibition:
- Oct. 22, 2:30 p.m.: Artist talk with Cara Brewer Thompson
- Oct. 29, noon: Artist talk with Renqian Yang
- Nov. 15, 2 p.m.: Musical performance, "Folding Time Between Worlds: A Journey Home through Songs," a collaboration with the Music Department and Tyler Art Gallery
Gallery hours are 2 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Tyler Art Gallery is closed on Mondays, holidays and when classes are not in session.
Classes and groups may arrange after-hours visitation. Please contact Davana Robedee at davana.robedee@oswego.edu if you are interested in scheduling a class or group visit outside of visiting hours.
Top image from Renqian Yang's "Folding Time Between Worlds"
Second image from Cara Brewer Thompson's "Based on Actual Events"
-- Submitted by Tyler Art Gallery