Hartford

Is That A Whale Up On That Wall?

by Jamil Ragland | Oct 2, 2023 12:00 pm

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The Power of the Elements: The Forces Within Us
Mallett Art Gallery
950 Main St., Hartford
Through Nov. 1

I looked at the painting Purple Haze and saw whales. I had a hunch the artist herself might have seen something else.

I saw the painting on display at an exhibit called The Power of the Elements: The Forces Within Us, a collaboration between Capital and Art Connection Studios, a nonprofit started and supported by VinFenCT employees that seeks to provide arts-based programming for people with disabilities.

The gallery was put together by Javiera Olhaberry, a program specialist who has worked at VinFen for seven years and a visual artist herself. She told me that all of the artists are clients of the Connecticut Department of Developmental Services or the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. The artists work on paintings, mixed media, jewelry and fiber arts at a studio on Arbor Street, and produce four shows a year. This show was the first held in an outside gallery in several years.

“It’s easy for our clients to represent their thoughts and feelings with colors. The theme for this show is interpreting the elements, and they did a wonderful job,” she explained.

I’ll say. I was immediately impressed by the creativity and skill on display in all of the paintings. As a writer,I find it difficult to express thoughts visually, or interpret the thoughts that others are trying to convey. I found myself staring at each painting, trying to figure out what it was trying to say to me.

Then I thought: Why not just ask? Since it was the premiere, I was fortunate enough to be able to speak to one of the artists. 

Zhane Douglas is 26 years old, and she told me that she’s been doing visual artwork all of her life. She said she enjoys being creative, as evidenced by the fact that she had three different paintings in the exhibit, one called Fuego and another named Breezy.

Purple Haze, her third piece, was the one that caught my eye. I already knew I wanted to feature it before I realized that she was the artist during our conversation. I imagined that the piece was a pod of whales soaring through the sky, as if Leviathan had sprouted wings. Their tails were barely breaching the cloud cover. Now I could ask her: what had motivated her to paint such a whimsical image? What meaning was she trying to convey?

“I was tired when I painted this,” she said. 

When I looked back at the painting, I still saw my whale tails. But now I saw the white puffs in a new light. Instead of clouds, they began to look more ephemeral and abstract, like goodnight kisses and end-of-day prayers given a momentary physical form before floating off into the heavens. 

I’ve written about the construction of meaning when looking at art before, and how I felt inadequate to the task. I thought that asking the artists themselves, or situating the artwork in a broader context, would make constructing meaning easier. To my surprise it didn’t, because answers and context had little impact on how the artwork made me feel. I’ve realized that when I engage with art, I’m trying to decipher not the artist’s intent, but instead my own. What does the artwork say to me about me? 

In the end, I felt validated by my friend who attended with me when he said Purple Haze made him think of the Hartford Whalers, but purple. We might be the only two who saw whales, but there’s comfort in that connection, and that’s what the show was all about.

The Power of the Elements: The Forces Within Us continues through Nov. 1. To purchase any of the artwork on display, please contact Javiera Olhaberry ([email protected]; 860.736.4322) or Daija Matthews ([email protected]; 860.236.0705).

NEXT: Art Connection Studios hosts Seasons: A Time for Change at its 56 Arbor Street gallery. The opening reception is Friday, Oct. 6.

Jamil travels back to the 90’s with Mrs. Doubtfire at the Bushnell. 

Tags: Art , visual arts , painting , capital community college , CT State Community College , VinFenCT , Art Connection Studio