The Orville Hanchey Art Gallery at Northwestern State University of Louisiana has given a home to many artworks made by students, faculty and guest artists. Upon walking into the gallery, a visitor can be greeted with a visceral experience presented by the artist or artists featured.
This month, the gallery is displaying the work of Derek Sarvis through his exhibition “Impressed.” Students, professors and community members gazed at Sarvis’s work as they filled the gallery.
Sarvis will be graduating this spring with a Master of Arts from NSU. The exhibition was part of his thesis, which featured various pieces of artwork including paintings of different sizes, pottery and ceramics.
“I was mostly doing pottery and ceramics and that’s what I figured my show would be about, but as I worked and figured out what I liked and looked at other art I liked, I really liked painting. So I tried to find an intersection between them where I could find a motif that works on both,” Sarvis said.
Sarvis started to work on this project this summer and explained that the theme of the show defines the work “Impressed.” According to Sarvis, impressionism is the art movement where painters demonstrate the effects of light.
“With ceramics, I would also lead with leading impressions on those because I was carving,” Sarvis said. “When I’m painting landscapes, what really inspires me is the moments where you look around and you’re really impressed with the world. For me, it’s usually looking up at the sky or looking down, so there’s lots of painted skies and lots of messy rocks.”
Nelson Tamez, a junior graphic design major, attended the reception and expressed his admiration for Sarvis’s work, while also explaining the importance of individuality.
“I think it’s important to express individuality, especially when it comes to art and design. I think especially in modern culture it’s becoming increasingly more ‘you have to fit into this mold’ and we’re all one machine. There is less focus on the individual and I think that’s where we lose ourselves,” Tomez said.
Matt DeFord, an art professor at NSU, also expressed his admiration for Sarvis. “Many students don’t exhibit in this big space, they mainly exhibit in smaller spaces. And he took it upon himself to take the big gallery,” he said.
DeFord explained how important it is for students to have the experience of exhibitting and planning a show.
“If they want to be professional artists, and they’re studying to be professional artists, I think you need the education on how to set up a show, how to plan a show and how to have a cohesive show,” he said.
Sarvis’s art pieces are up for sale, and he looks forward to exhibiting more of his artwork.
“Doing this was something I really enjoyed. If I’m blessed that life takes me that way, I would love to actually be a practicing artist to be able to put on regular exhibitions,” Sarvis said.
