Carolyn Vogel
The Karl Mundt Library offers students a chance to share and to enjoy the artwork of students and members of the community. Currently featured is the exhibit “Remnants and Remains” by Chris Francis, local artist, and president of the Madison Arts council.
“Remnants and Remains” provides the viewer with a deep, thought-provoking look at nature and how we perceive it. Are these paintings of hills, clouds, or the ocean? That is really up to the viewer. Though Chris Francis says his inspiration for these paintings was the idea of reinventing the original pastoral landscape, there is plenty of room for the viewer to use his or her imagination, and see what the artwork says to the individual.
Artists of any kind work from experience. Chris Francis grew up in Iowa, and that closeness to nature is reflected in these paintings. In some ways, these paintings are quite similar; all of them have three shapes that appear to be slopes of some kind, that were inspired by both hills and agricultural rows that one can often see when driving by a field. However, Francis explores different motifs of theses shapes by using different lighting, shadowing, and different angles. These different motifs allow one to experience the view in a vast array of ways perspectives. In other words, these pictures are very much united, but any one of them could stand alone as a work of art.
These paintings were created with oil on canvas board; “Oils really cannot be surpassed,” says Francis. Oil paint allows for a lot of blending, which is crucial in these paintings, with the iridescent light that they all seem to have. The paintings in “Remnants and Remains” are 9-squared compositions, meaning that the image is divided into nine separate sections, a popular technique used for capturing landscapes in a way that is both interesting and attractive to the viewer.
All of the images in “Remnants and Remains” were painted last winter. Francis says that painting takes the least amount of time in the whole process; “Most of my time is spent on composition… I can paint in an hour.”
Chris Francis’ advice to aspiring artists is: “Always think about things; always be working on a new idea.” Francis certainly follows his own advice; he is already planning his next project, which would include the Black Hills in future artwork.
Chris Francis also encourages art students to think for themselves: “Don’t be afraid to be creative or unique or weird or whatever it is you want to be.”
“Remnants and Remains” is by no means Chris Francis’ only project. He has undertaken a variety of artistic methods that like “Remnants and Remains” are very expressive, focusing much on content, or what the art says to the viewer. These works include not only painting, but sculpture as well.
All of Chris Francis’ artwork can be viewed on his website http://www.eastofegan.com along with detailed commentary on the construction and creativity behind the finished product.
All students are encouraged to view the artwork in the library, and to show their support for the artistic talent here in Madison.
Published in the Trojan Times October 2, 2009
