Jeff Murphy's show at the Pearl Conard Gallery

Jeff Murphy "Funnel"

Jeff Murphy "Ferris Wheel"

Earlier this week I had the chance to meet Jeff Murphy, the artist who created the work displayed in our gallery here at Mansfield. Here are some thoughts on the show and the "art talk" we got to have with Murphy;

The two that stood out the to me most are the ones pictured above. They're both apart of the series he calls "dig", a series about our need to dig literally and metaphorically through memories and the past. The first piece stuck out because to me it looks like the skeleton of a giant sea monster or a tentacle reaching over a boat at sea. It emits an ominous feeling through his choice of color and composition. I have a slight "phobia" of giant things, towering over smaller things or myself. When I was little I'd get freaked out by the king triton exhibit at COSI, it was just so much bigger than little me. This piece gives me the same uneasy feeling, but I still like it very much. It makes me wonder if the skeleton-monster-tentacle is really there, or if it's just a memory. 

I really liked the second piece because of how simple it is. The top half is mostly sky, and the bottom is covered by a scene of a big wave and in the corner is a tiny ferris wheel. The texture layered over the piece makes the scene stormy and a little ominous. It's like the ferris wheel is about to be swallowed by the wave. Maybe he meant it as a memory about the be lost. 

Jeff Murphy describes his work as showing how "we are constantly picking away at the surface of things". He said he was inspired by his sons and his own impulse as a kid to dig at the ground. For his other body of work "Convergence", Murphy says he was inspired by Catholic and Islamic relationships in Spain. He pairs catholic sculptures and buildings with animals to present irony in some pieces. 

It was good to hear the artist speak because he answered some questions that were left unanswered in his artist statement (bat dog). It was good to have my questions answered and it made it seem like I was looking at it all with fresh eyes. I like to know who the people are that make art that I like. It makes it easier to look out for their other work and make connections. 

It was kind of funny because I pictured him with a beard. I was thinking of Jeff Murphy the baseball player apparently. 

- Avery Violet