Stacy Gever

The new Haas art exhibit is called "Evolving," which holds a beautiful and unique collection of paintings created by artist Kim Banister. The works have an obvious consistency throughout when one first walks in. Each painting is spaced out perfect distances from each other. Each character in the paintings seem like they are floating, and the white walls surrounding each piece give the art even more of a celestial feel. All of the paintings include the colors red, blue, brown, and yellow. The paint in the majority of the pieces are dripping downward, producing a melancholy expression. There are two different women in these paintings: one woman with long, curly, light-colored hair, and the other with short, dark-colored hair. Four of these paintings include males, who give the more dominant impression. The male dominance gives the paintings more of a story. The women seem depressed or lonely because of how close they seem to hold themselves, and because they are looking downward. The men seem like the voice of reason or the gentle hand available to help the women. I could tell that the artist's intention for the couples is some form of love. The women are clenching the men for help. All of the characters in the paintings are nude and truthful. These paintings do work because many candid emotions are being displayed strictly through body position and color. I find the set-up of the paper interesting. Four paintings are framed, and the rest are tacked to the wall. This gives the paintings an extremely raw look, especially because the corners are not tacked.

For the picture of my choice, I chose the foot. This painting stands out to me because it is the only painting without gender or a face. Also, the foot is consistent with the others because it is dripping, yet it is the only painting I saw that was dripping upward. The color red is dominant in this painting. Red and brown are two colors that are natural because all humans have shades of brown and red within their body.

This is my favorite painting. When I saw this, it expressed complete solitude and inner pain. The dripping upward gives me the idea that the person in the painting is finally letting go of earth. The feet both seem completely relaxed, whereas the people in the other paintings seem as if they are deflated and trying to cope. The colors red and brown also remind me of death and the naturalness of human life. The big toe is the only yellow part of the piece, giving me the impression that at least one part of that person remains peaceful and without dreadful thoughts. This painting is not as easy to interpret as the others but it amazes me how even feet can show emotion. This piece is one of the smaller, framed paintings. The framing and glass covering the painting show a glare and I could see my own reflection through it. This makes me feel distant, like there is more to this body part than I can process, and distance in the sense that the person is unreachable and therefore whithering away. The characters in the paintings without frames seem personable, touchable, and in need of some form of help that they can and will attain somehow.