SCRANTON — Artist Stephen Garrison, of Clarks Summit, displayed pencil drawings at a monthly art exhibit, which Rob Lettieri Photography has at his garage in the Green Ridge section of Scranton during the summer.
The name of the exhibit was “New Work: In Three Parts” and it consisted of six drawings of crows (“Inspiration”), three of broken eggs (“Exploration”), and six of paper foldings (“Abstraction”).
Garrison explained that all three sets of drawings emphasize what it means to be an artist, making art work, and the relationship of the artist to the work. He said the idea of inspiration comes from nature.
“With the crows, they’re kind of magical birds,” said Garrison. “They’re very human-like. They work with tools. They have an intelligence that’s kind of really inspiring.”
Garrison then discussed the second part (broken eggs) of his exhibit which defines the experimentation of trial and error.
“It’s putting out a piece of artwork,” he said. “You never know how it’s going to be received or know if it’s going to come out how you anticipate it to.”
Garrison explained the idea of the broken eggs is a two-fold metaphor that could either be interpreted as failure or the beginning of the next success. He then said the origami (paper folding) signifies the reality that, no matter what the artwork is, whether drawing or painting, it’s always just an abstract of something real.
“It’s the result of the exploration and inspiration to find the abstraction that’s perfect on its own but it’s never going to be the actual thing,” he said.
Garrison also has artworks in other locations. He has an art show called Harvest, displayed at the Upfront Gallery in Port Jervis, NY. During the summer, he had two pieces at a juried art show in Savannah, GA.
Garrison is the assistant professor of interior architecture at Marywood University. His wife Merissa is the director of the Waverly Small Works Gallery at the Waverly Community House.
