Still working to get everything together for my senior exhibition, the opening for which is on Sunday, as detailed on November 21, 2002. Things are going reasonably well - everything will be done on time. My father has written a wonderful introductory essay about the show - that is what he does, as the art dealer. The following are his words:
There is a spark within our creative centers that enables a capacity to illuminate the world which we perceive.
It is in this same sense that an illuminated manuscript is created - in which, as if representatively, the ordinary letters of initial capitals are embellished to express the inherent capacities of the text to enable passionate insight (which some call the the grace of the Holy Spirit).
It is also the tradition of the expressive landscape. Barbara Haskell, in her essay "Transcendental Realism in the Stieglitz Circle: The Expressionist Landscapes of Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, John Marin, and Georgia O'Keefe," proposed that "though the twentieth century saw confidence in the indissoluble union of God, nature, and America shatter, the mystery of nature and the religious and moral overtones which adhered to it remained...Nature seemed singularly capable of providing the solitude and introspection conducive to spirituality...Nature as subject...offered a sympathetic vehicle for the expression of emotional states."
In the paintings of Christopher Busta-Peck that world of nature is integrated with elements of a gentle domesticity such as a picnic table, a woodland path, a steepled church across the green. And, in particular, the viewer is positioned in the process of a road or trail that leads further into that landscape. The work is magnetic in its effort to come to terms with the mysteries of the world, casting whirling spells to establish creative and emotional sense.
In the collages we find the same sense-making, that effort to integrate and find comfort in the embrace of mystery. However, here the universe is that of man, in which he takes ephemera of culture to deconstruct, then reconstruct. The principle difference is that here his sense is embracing, in the paintings it is expanding.
William Busta
Very little of the following text is new - it came from my last daylog. After I wrote that daylog, many noders suggested, no, demanded, that I provide images. The urls of images of most of the works of art in the show have been added. The pictures do leave a bit to be desired, I know, but they are what I can do with the digital camera I have - show up for the opening and see them at infinite resolution! Thank you all for bugging me about this.
The state of my senior exhibition, as of Saturday, 30 November, 2002. This is required of all graduating art majors at Hiram College, just as papers and presentations are required in other majors. My show opens on Sunday, December 8, 2002, so I have a week to get everything together.
Three of the eight paintings I did this semester are unfinished, though they are close to being done. All of the pedestals have to be painted (one each for the three books I will be showing, one for the catalog for the show). The two walls that the two assemblages will be against have to be painted, as they are surely heavily scratched and marked. And mounting hardware must be put on everything.
The gallery space is in the art building, a sort of atrium on the first and second floors, with the majority of the space being on the second floor. On the first floor, there are doors on the east and west sides of the building. A large staircase goes up the center of the atrium. The walls on the first floor are a textured cloth that has been painted white. The second floor walls are cork on drywall, barely sufficient for hanging art and damn ugly.
The basic design of the exhibition is as follows (All are listed left to right. Dimensions are in inches, with height followed by width followed by depth.):
First Floor
North Wall
Pond, Trail, Hiram College Field Station
2002, oil on canvas, 48 x 72
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/lake.jpg
Tree (large assemblage)
2000, bicycles, circuit boards, wire, and screws on wood, 96 x 72
no image available
East Wall
Most likely nothing.
maybe:
Blackboard, Downstairs Studio
2001, oil on canvas, 12 x 18
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-25.jpg
South Wall
One Corner of the Studio (top)
2001, oil on canvas, 22 x 30
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-15.jpg
Studio at Night, Winter (bottom)
2002, oil on canvas, 22 x 30
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-16.jpg
Spring
2001, oil and acrylic on canvas, tail light, staples, on plywood, 98 x 49
no image available
West Wall
Winter Scene, Night, Just Outside the Stuido
2000, acrylic with pigment on paper, 38.5 x 25.5
need to find some way to mount this!
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-12.jpg
Studio with Couch and Canvas, Winter
2001, oil on canvas, 30 x 22
need to unwarp canvas!
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-14.jpg
Second Floor
For the sake of sanity, due to the funny shape of the walls, these works will be listed clockwise, starting with the edge of the atrium.
Assemblage with Floral Border
2000, acrylic, wallpaper, wire, and found objects on canvas, 48 x 65
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-09.jpg
Late Night in the Studio
2001, oil on canvas, 24 x20
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-18.jpg
ccunning and Segnbora-t
2002, oil on canvas, 20 x 22
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-17.jpg
Studio Panorama
2000, watercolor and acrylic on paper, on paper, 13 x 36
would probably be a good idea to find a way to mount this one, too
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-13.jpg
Field, Diagonal Road, Mid-Afternoon, Fall
2002, oil on canvas, 48 x 72
need to finish painting
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-03.jpg
Summer Past
2000, wood, bicycle parts, paper, and Polaroid, 87 x 57
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-08.jpg
Perry Monument
2001, acrylic and found paper on paper, 25 x 19
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-11.jpg
Observation Building, Hiram College Field Station, Early Fall
2002, oil on canvas, 48 x 72
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/field.jpg
Church, Trees, Parking Lot, Cemetary, Mantua Center
2002, oil on canvas, 48 x 72
need to finish done!
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-01.jpg
Church, Road, Fall Leaves, Mantua Center
2002, oil on canvas, 48 x 72
need to finish
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-02.jpg
On the Balcony, Frohring Art, Twilight
2002, oil on canvas, 48 x 72
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/porch.jpg
Painting Studio
2001, oil on canvas, 40.5 x 54.5
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-04.jpg
The Edge of the Woods
2002, oil on canvas, 48 x 72
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-05.jpg
Assemblage with Four Circles
2000, found objects, bicycle parts, screws, and acrylic on wood, 65 x 52
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-07.jpg
liha and Phyllis Stein in the forest
2002, oil on canvas, 20 x 16
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-20.jpg
Revelation in Backstrip
2000, acrylic and paper on paper, 10 x 6.5
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-27.jpg
Outside the Darkroom
2001, oil canvas, 16 x 26
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-19.jpg
The Border of the Field and the Woods
2002, oil on canvas, 48 x 72
need to unwarp canvas
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-06.jpg
Studio, First Floor, Frohring Art, Another Angle
2000, acrylic on canvas on particleboard, 39 x 48
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-10.jpg
Lake Erie Sunset
2000, acrylic on paper, 10 x 12.5
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-29.jpg
Memorial Day, 2000
2000, acrylic and paper on paper, 10 x 12.5
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-28.jpg
Self Portrait
2000, linocut and paper on paper, 10 x 13
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-26.jpg
Yielding and Paying (book)
2001, watercolor, gelatin silver photographs, watercolor, and found paper on paper, 20.5 x 15.25 x 1.75
(selected pages)
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-32.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-33.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-34.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-35.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-36.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-37.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-38.jpg
The History of My Own Times (book)
2001, watercolor, photocopy, ink, and found paper on paper, 16 x 12 x .625
(selected pages)
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-40.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-41.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-42.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-43.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-44.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-45.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-46.jpg
PowerBook Book (book)
2001, found paper, acrylic, and stamps on PowerBook 145b,11.25 x 9.5 x 2.75
(selected pages)
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-47.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-48.jpg
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-49.jpg
Works that may or may not be in the show
WTC Painting 1
2001, oil on canvas, 16 x 20
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-23.jpg
WTC Painting 2
2001, oil on canvas, 20 x 16
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-24.jpg
GangstaFeelsGood and ccunning
2001, oil on canvas, 20 x 16
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-22.jpg
Indra363 in Sleeping Bag
2001, oil on canvas, 16 x 20
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-21.jpg
Bowler Parlor
2000, ink on paper, 12 x 16
http://williambustagallery.com/cbustapeck/Untitled-30.jpg
This is it. It's all just about ready... doing all the things that need to be done, labels, painting, the like.
I am really pleased with this body of work, and I hope that you can make it to the show. See my daylog November 21, 2002 for details.