Junior Madi Robbins views Cig Harvey’s piece “The Hope Chest,” a self-portrait shot in Maine in 2007, in the Baum Gallery on Aug. 31. The exhibit is open until Oct. 13.
The University of Central Arkansas’ Artists in Residence series welcomes photographer Cig Harvey’s work to the Baum Gallery.
Beginning Aug. 25, the “Cig Harvey: From Red to Violet” exhibit will be available for students to view in the Baum Gallery until Oct. 13.
Harvey will host workshops as the first artist to kick off the artist-in-residence series this fall to supplement the exhibit. From Oct. 11 through Oct. 13, she will do a photography workshop with students, a public gallery talk, a workshop with creative writing students and a public lecture.
On Sept. 21 through Sept. 23 and Oct. 11 through Oct. 13, there will be an outdoor photographic projection of Harvey’s work on the outside of the southwest wall of Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.
Harvey is originally from the United Kingdom and currently lives in Maine, where she is a professional artist.
Although her photography is what is showcased at UCA, Harvey is also a writer with five published books. She is a decorated artist and writer, and her works, both photographs and books, are featured in museums around the world.
Donna Pinckley, professor of art in photography, had her eye on bringing Harvey long before the exhibit came to fruition. They both admired one another’s work, and Pinckley even bought one of Harvey’s books for Torreyson Library while working as a library liaison in 2012.
“I was struck by the color and the beauty of her work,” Pinckley said.
In 2015, Pinckley took a workshop of Harvey’s in New Orleans and knew that her influence was needed on UCA’s campus for the students.
“After I took her workshop, I submitted it to the exhibition’s committee,” Pinckley said. ”This is a long time coming … Her schedule has been busy, but it just worked out. It’s just perfect timing now.”
Pinckley brought the idea to Brian Young, the director of Baum Gallery, to see if doing the exhibit was financially feasible. With the support of the UCA Department of Art and Design, the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, UCA Foundation, the Conway Convention and Visitors Bureau and the collaboration with the Artists in Residence program, Young and Pinckley were given the green light.
“I thought the work was great, the exhibition’s committee was supportive, and it was time to do a photography show,” Young said. “I trusted my colleagues, I trusted Donna, and I trusted myself.”
Young believed that Harvey’s work would be perfect for the Baum Gallery because it is unique.
“Cig has her own voice. Her entire body of work is kind of personal, kind of quiet, kind of magical, kind of disconcerting, all of it kind of together,” Young said. “I think that is a great lesson for our students in that she really gives a lot of thought to the way that she sets up her images … It looks artificial but it also looks natural at the same time … I don’t see anybody else doing a large body of work with those elements in quite the same way that she does.”
The workshops Harvey will host on campus will be similar to the one Pinckley attended in 2015, and the goal will be to encourage creativity within the students. One exercise will be to create a word map to inspire the student’s next photographs. Pinckley explained that it is a different approach to photography than she would typically pursue.
“[Harvey] has always said that you’re either a finder or a constructor. That’s always kind of stuck with me,” Pinckley said. “And I consider myself a finder but I kind of started being a constructor.”
Pinckley hopes Harvey’s visit to UCA will inspire students to “be open and learn a different process. Learn something different, a new way of thinking.”
Pinckley gushed about her creative relationship with Harvey and hopes that relationship will be well-received by students.
“She’s younger than me, and she’s inspiring me, so I’m hopefully inspiring those students because I’m excited, and hopefully they’ll be excited … If I’m not excited about what I’m doing, they’re not going to be excited,” Pinckley said.
More information on the Artists in Residence program can be found at uca.edu/cahss/artists-in-residence/.
