Central Piedmont Community College: Forever Transient

‘Forever Transient’ visually investigates the meaning behind transience, impermanence, continuous change and the desire to preserve and prolong the temporary moment. Inspired by Dutch still life paintings and vanitas, each artist exemplifies a different creative approach and skill set to artistically render the fragility of time. Time does not sand still. It marches forward and looks back retrospectively at the past. Therefore, the experience of time is never linear, but cyclical.

‘Forever Transient’ exhibits 8 nationally and internationally acclaimed artists. Through varying processes, each artist composes their work to include vibrant references, and in some cases direct interactions, with nature and humanity. Andrew Leventis’ hyper realistic refrigerator still life paintings, echo the elements of Dutch still life techniques, but with a contemporary and refreshing update of a classic art form. Brent Dedas’ “honeybee drawings” incorporate the assistance of live honeybees landing and crawling on his drawings, which Dedas then turns into cyanotype prints. Colby Caldwell, brings his flatbed scanner along on his nature walks, instead of a camera, and scans natural flora found on the forest floor. James Henkel arranges fragments of glass from destroyed vessels to create organic shapes, therefore showing transience through destruction, change and reformation. Susan Jedrzejewski also explores the imperfect and unpredictable patterns of the natural world through the process of photo transfer on canvas and panel. Debra Koo’s paintings preserve moments in time such as social celebrations, family, friends and gatherings around the abundance of food and frivolity. Vietnamese artist Kenny Nguyen’s work honors his Vietnamese and American cultural heritage in organic and abstract forms using paint and Vietnamese silk in creative, unconventional ways. Jennifer Minnis’ work focuses on a threefold view of humanity in spirit, mind and body, capturing moments of time in paint that cause the viewer to question the thoughtful intentions of the portrayed subject.