SXU Gallery Presents "No Such Thing as Lost"
Saint Xavier University (SXU) will host "No Such Thing as Lost," the work of Chicago artist Sarah Crow, now through February 21.
Crow, who is also an art and design professor at SXU, finds art to be a prayerful and spiritual practice. "No Such Thing as Lost" includes work from over the course of five years, and Crow describes it as a comprehensive picture of the themes that have inspired her in that time.
"My work includes grief, faith, and the use of symbols and imagery to express such intangible aspects of the human experience. I found the way that I see the world expressed beautifully in Catholic Sacramental theology, which describes a Sacrament as a visible sign of an invisible reality. In a way, this is how I see and relate to all creation, which points to the good Creator," said Crow.
Inspired by art historical research, Crow chose painting as her medium, finding incredible joy in the beauty of paint and surface preparation. Her panels are uniquely prepared with traditional chalk gesso, such as is used for icons. The labor-intensive surface preparation results in a ground that is like porcelain. Crow believes that oil paint is the most dynamic paint media, and she tries to showcase the breadth of the ways it can be used, including in transparent layers that allow the light to penetrate it and reflect back from the white gesso layer beneath.
Crow hopes that visitors to her exhibit will find it to be a sanctuary where they can slow down, find rest, and enter the world she has shared.
"I hope that the viewers find visual pleasure and joy in my paintings and that they discover the ways that the paintings resonate with them, whether through the subject matter, the materials, or in any other way," said Crow.
Crow has been drawn to art since she was a child.
"I was one of those kids who had a crayon inseparable from my hand. I knew that I wanted to be an artist when I was five. Being an artist is a journey of constant discovery and development. It is a continual exploration of one's interior world as well as the external world. I learn more about painting and what I really care about with each new work of art," said Crow.
At SXU, Crow teaches drawing, figure drawing, painting, and 3D design. Her favorite thing about teaching art is how every single student is different and how she gets to witness their discovery of their own artistic sensibility and voice. Crow hopes her student takeaway is greater sensitivity to their own artistic perspectives as well as concrete skills of the craft they can apply with confidence.
As a member of the SXU community, she is honored to have her work displayed on the campus.
"I am especially grateful that my art students will be able to see my work at the beginning of a semester when I will be teaching two levels of painting classes. Paintings are meant to be shared with others, and I feel like this body of work, which is in many ways very private, is finally being activated and attaining its purpose by being exhibited. My paintings are intentionally and carefully made and reveal more the longer you look at them – there is a lot of subtlety in them that can only be communicated in person. I encourage my viewers to trust in their own experiences and interpretations of my paintings, and I invite them to just slow down and look for the visual information that resonates with them," said Crow.
The artist's presentation and reception will be held Wednesday, January 21, at 3:30 p.m. at the SXU Gallery.
The SXU Gallery is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, contact the Gallery at 773-298-3081.