Live Oak Exhibition at WAMA

Walter Anderson Museum of Art, Ocean Springs, MS

Guest Curated by Jerrod Partridge

Open June 1, 2024 through November 2024

Opening reception June 6, at 6pm

The Southern Live Oak holds a unique position of iconic stature on the Gulf Coast. The grandeur of these trees not only creates an aesthetic experience, but is also ripe with symbolism, history, and ecological significance. 

Walter Anderson once wrote, “In order to realize the beauty of humanity we must realize our relation to nature”.

This exhibition is intended to be a reflection of the Southern landscape through a specified look at the live oak.  Participating artists were asked to look beyond simple depictions of the trees themselves; to consider aspects of the oak like its roots, grain structure, acorns, leaves, provision of shade, being a host for other plants and animals, protection, danger, use for entertainment, mythology, as well as utilitarian, economic and ecological uses.  Live oaks are integrated in our lives in so many ways, and we acknowledge that at times there are reasons for trees to be taken down.  But as Richard Powers says in his book The Overstory, “What you make from a tree should be at least as miraculous as what you cut down.”

This type of holistic appreciation for the live oak is intended to create a community dialogue.  We aim to encourage an actively engaged connection of our community to this museum, the work of Walter Anderson, and to nature itself.  Through the work of this group of artists we hope that you gain a new appreciation for the beauty of the Southern Live Oak, the ecological significance of them, and the rich human history connected to them.

Participating artists include Allen Williams, Ashleigh Coleman, Christopher Stebly, David West, Jerrod Partridge, Marc Hanson, Mary Anderson Picard, Mia Kaplan, Isabel Gamallo, Steve Shepard

My three paintings in this exhibition are intended to explore the role of the live oak as host to other plants, specifically Spanish moss, palmettos, and ferns.  The longevity, strength, and size of these trees is clearly acknowledged by nature itself.  The paintings are done in oil on handmade paper.  The paper, being derived from trees, connects the paintings in material as well as imagery, and the texture creates a varied surface which feels natural (of nature) though not commonly used for an oil painting.