EVOLUTION: A SOLO EXHIBIT OF WORK SPANNING TWENTY YEARS
Cortona Gallery, Ashford University, Clinton, Iowa
December 2012-January 2013
December 2012-January 2013
ARTIST STATEMENT
Lana Caywood, M.A.E, NBCT
Artist, Educator, Maker
Lana Caywood, M.A.E, NBCT
Artist, Educator, Maker
Evolution is an exhibition of my artwork and its progression over time. For me the creative act is a journey. As I change and grow, as society and the political climate of our country changes so does my work. Evolution represents a span of more than twenty years of my creative journey. The exhibit includes detailed watercolors, representational collage, abstract art as metaphor, and art for social justice.
Growing up in west, central Missouri my life was strongly influence by parents, grandparents, and extended family who had survived the Great Depression and World War II. Both of my grandmothers raised their families with the “make do or do without” philosophy. It was from them I learned the art of making – making garden, sewing, knitting and homemaking. This is the reason I include “maker” as a personal descriptor as well as artist and educator. I find the life of a maker more personally satisfying than the life of a consumer.
As an art educator, I have taught students from preschool through the university level. My time in the classroom though not continuous has occurred in four decades. I have seen trends come and go but the path public education is currently on I find disturbing. Teachers are being forced to take on the role of parents and students are being reduced to test scores. We are losing the wonder and romance of education that creates people who are life-long learners.
As a woman, my role as daughter, wife, and mother have changed over the same span of time represented by the work in this exhibition. My children are grown, my husband is nearing retirement, and my aging parents can no longer maintain independent living. I have watched my father lose his memory and cognitive function due to vascular dementia. I have come to see memory as the patterns of life that define us. Watching someone lose there memory is to watch a person you know and love gradually fade away.
My art reflects my life. As my life, the society in which I live, my role in my family and profession change my art will continue to evolve.
Growing up in west, central Missouri my life was strongly influence by parents, grandparents, and extended family who had survived the Great Depression and World War II. Both of my grandmothers raised their families with the “make do or do without” philosophy. It was from them I learned the art of making – making garden, sewing, knitting and homemaking. This is the reason I include “maker” as a personal descriptor as well as artist and educator. I find the life of a maker more personally satisfying than the life of a consumer.
As an art educator, I have taught students from preschool through the university level. My time in the classroom though not continuous has occurred in four decades. I have seen trends come and go but the path public education is currently on I find disturbing. Teachers are being forced to take on the role of parents and students are being reduced to test scores. We are losing the wonder and romance of education that creates people who are life-long learners.
As a woman, my role as daughter, wife, and mother have changed over the same span of time represented by the work in this exhibition. My children are grown, my husband is nearing retirement, and my aging parents can no longer maintain independent living. I have watched my father lose his memory and cognitive function due to vascular dementia. I have come to see memory as the patterns of life that define us. Watching someone lose there memory is to watch a person you know and love gradually fade away.
My art reflects my life. As my life, the society in which I live, my role in my family and profession change my art will continue to evolve.