Tonight the Rose dining hall was filled with serene music, tasteful refreshments and unique art works. One of the great aspects of the Rose dining hall is the exhibition of stimulating paintings throughout the year. The art works by Nicholas Lawson Carbonaro were revealed tonight at the dining hall.
When I walked into the dining hall, the paintings on the wall grabbed my attention instantly. The illustrations were more abstract than what I was used to, however we had the opportunity to ask the artist about his exhibition. Many of the paintings and sculptures illustrated abstract portraits of people and transgender themes. My favorite painting of the night depicted a transgender person standing proudly at a door frame, titled “Welcome to My Home,” which can be seen on the left side of the picture. The painting was very unique in many ways: the background texture, picture frame, and the painting itself were very original and something I have not seen before. At the center, a person dressed in an unconventional clothing is shown. This depicts the feelings of a person who has recently become independent, such as a college student away from their parents. When people live independently, they have the power to control how they live in their own home. This painting helps the viewers find themselves and discover what they truly are inside. Also, the texture of the background was produced with chili pepper seeds. Food spices are normally not considered to be an art instrument, but the pepper seeds in this painting brought out exceptional designs and texture to compliment the piece. I was surprised to find out that the picture frame was originally an antique screen door found in Ithaca. Home is where a person can freely express themselves and I appreciate that this piece captures the feelings very well.
Since there were a lot of people at the exhibit, I only learned about one art work, but I would love to learn more about the rest of the exhibit and the meanings behind each. It would be nice to have description boxes underneath the paintings for the future exhibits so that people dining at Rose have the opportunity to learn more about the art works.
Art Show by Nicholas Lawson Carbonaro
I think so too! It would have been nice if all the paintings had some sort of short blurb to accompany them so we could know the artist’s thoughts, inspiration, and message!
How interesting that the frame was part of the message of the artwork itself! I image that the unconventional materials such as the door frame and chili seeds made the pieces more interesting and intriguing. I am curious about the artist’s design decision and whether he would have preferred to make the use of these materials apparent to the viewer or to make it more discreet so that one would only notice the chili seeds for example through careful observation.