Sean Hennessey; “Drink Me-tamorphosis”; Glass, Concrete, Paint
24″x12″
Sean Hennessey’s mixed and multimedia series “Alice Revisioned” will be on exhibit in September at the Tony Hungerfold Memorial Gallery at the College of Southern Maryland.
Sean Hennessey began this work with the desire to add video and lighting to a series of mixed media artwork based on the writings of Lewis Carroll. Working with the stories of Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, he began to explore the relationship of the text and the ideas to his own personal method of storytelling and visual language. Sean brainstormed ideas as he read and reread the text focusing on particular imagery and ideas that popped into his mind. The pieces come from this planning and sketching but adapt to the process of the layout of elements and glass techniques. As he makes his molds, casts the glass, paints objects, adds concrete, and plans and films videos, he lets happenstance and expression shape the direction of the piece. For the sake of unity, he deliberately maintains a consistent palette and overall aesthetic of the series.
Sean wanted to tell the story of Alice using his own feelings of the importance of ideas and interpretations. The “Drink Me” potion becomes an idea about transformation and metamorphosis. A means of growth that one takes upon themself, even when the potion bottle seems foreboding. The “Mad Tea Party” is about a fight with the entity of Time resulting in the punishment of having to continuously relive teatime, imagined as the never-ending stream of tea pouring into the cup captured in video. The meeting of Alice and the Unicorn represented to him the power of belief and the importance of imagination. What realities do we see in the cloud formations that we stare at in wonder?
September 8 – October 3
Gallery Talk and Reception: September 16 | 12 p.m
The Tony Hungerford Memorial Art Gallery is located at the La Plata Campus, Fine Art Center and is open Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.