Giant blue boulders suspend from the ceiling, and whimsical mushroom sculptures are dotted throughout the gallery in a new 3-D art exhibit that’s on display at the Radford University art museum.
The installation is called Alchemy of Gravity, and artist Jane Cheek said she was thinking about a weight that many people are carrying.
“Burdens, things that we cope with, things in our lives,” Cheek said. “And how you might not kind of recognize what anyone else is carrying from looking at them.”
The exhibit is interactive, with ethereal, drippy music playing in the background. Most of the sculptures are painted vibrant blue.
“I find blue to be a really peaceful, calming color,” Cheek said. “And that was the vibe I wanted for the space and the show.”
As Cheek was setting up the exhibit, giant blue rocks made of paper dotted the floor, as students from a museum studies class stopped by. She encouraged them to touch and pick up the boulders.
Design student Calvin Dean lifted one, and was surprised to find the rock’s weight was similar to a basket of laundry.
“It’s already impressive, just because of their size,” Dean said. “And the colors. It’s like already engaging, and then I know that they’re going to be gravity defying as well. You know it’s gonna be a good exhibit when you’re already excited when it’s half done.”
When the exhibit is finished, many of the large blue sculptures will be suspended from the ceiling.
“It feels like something you want to walk around in and touch and experience instead of something you want to see from the sidelines,” Dean said, adding that it reminds him of the Willy Wonka movie. “Exactly. It looks like you could walk up to anything and eat it.”
“It’s like underwater, as well as a little alien planet,” said another student, Megan Fonseth.
Their teacher and the manager of the Radford University art museum, Theresa Rykaczewski was smiling as she peered at the mixed media pieces hanging on the wall.
“This is actually an exhibition that is typical of a much larger city, where it’s a completely immersive experience,” Rykaczewski said. “I love it. This is amazing. I feel like there are little moon rocks, and, this mirror, this is super cool.”
There are lily pads made of CDs. Cheek sourced a lot of the material from an art supply store that reuses supplies from laboratories and hospitals and created orange mushrooms from pipettes.
“They’re the droppers you would use in a chemistry lab,” Cheek explained. “They’re plastic. I manipulate them with a heat gun, and then I paint them.”
Sophomore John Godfrey said he gets a feeling of mysticism as he walks through the exhibit. “Kind of like the mushroom pieces, along with the darker, deeper blue, really goes well together to kind of feel like you’re in a glowing, gem stone cave.”
Throughout the exhibit, Cheek is asking students to take Polaroid images of what they build with the rocks and share what they are coping with on the bottom of the image. She hopes it can inspire community interaction.
“People will feel seen and see one another, and that there will be some kind of alchemy,” Cheek said. “Loads will be lifted, burdens will be lightened through that collective sharing and action.
Alchemy of Gravity is open now through February 20th at the Radford University Art Museum at the Covington Center, which is free and open to the public Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, Noon to 4 p.m.
There will be a reception and artist talk on Wednesday, Feb. 18 beginning at 3:00 p.m.
