Dr. Christopher M. Strickland, Hastings College visiting assistant professor for the first-year seminar program and Department of Visual Arts, will be showing recent works beginning October 28 in the critique gallery of the Jackson Dinsdale Art Center (JDAC).
Strickland’s exhibit, “Liminality: Reflections of a Changing Life,” is open in the critique gallery October 28 through November 21. The main JDAC gallery will feature an exhibit by Josh Johnson and Michael Ian Larsen, “Somewhere between those two things is this thing,” from October 28 through December 19.
Both exhibitions are free and open to the public, and gallery hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Face masks are required inside the JDAC, and the gallery’s capacity is set to 15 people at any given time.
“As an artist and educator, it is important to model and share the creative practice with my students and colleagues, which includes the exhibition of artistic endeavors,” Strickland said.
Works selected for his exhibit consist of abstract watercolor expressions. Strickland said his paintings reflect the liminal spaces he experienced between April 2019 and September 2020. During that time, Strickland said he experienced many life changes, and as a result, his works offer a narrative of the liminality.
“Traditionally, liminality stems from an anthropological perspective of a transitional phase an individual experiences through a rite of passage,” he said. “Contemporary philosophical and ontological perspectives refer to liminality as the relational and transformative spaces between body and spirit in the personal journey of becoming and being. My understanding of liminality lies somewhere between the anthropological and ontological perspectives; contextualizing the meaning-making of personal identity and inner dimensions amidst collective cultural and social experiences.”
Hastings College is Nebraska’s premier private college. A four-year residential college that focuses on student academic and extracurricular achievement, Hastings’ student-centered initiatives include providing books, an iPad and a two-week study away experience at no additional cost. A block-style semester schedule allows professors and students to focus on fewer classes at a time and promotes hands-on experiences. Discover more at hastings.edu.
