Join us in welcoming 2020 alumni Stephen Kanicki and Lance Kriesch to the Becker Art Gallery! The work of these two artists will be featured during the Fall semester, in the Lower Level of the Library. Stop by on August 25th from 6-7:30pm to meet Stephen and Lance or swing by at any point this semester to see their beautiful art!

Artist Statement

Spatial Awareness 2.0 

One can go to all the places and have all the things, yet be they not present, emptiness and dissatisfaction will always pervade them. Sound or feel familiar? Us too. This is an ever increasing reality in our fast paced, consumer based, materialistic society. Thus this collection of work, this joint experience – or rather experiment – was meant to dive head on into this dilemma. To take the raw and the “mundane” of our day-to-day lives and make it “art.” Something created, something intentional. Worth noticing, worth living. To be present, to be thankful. In the good times, or the not so good times. It’s all life, it’s all about becoming, and it’s all worth documenting, so long as you’re present for it… 

A curious thing we discovered, and also sought to highlight with this body of work, is that this generally looks completely different for each individual. And this, we believe, is something beautiful to notice, rather than some negative thing to suppress. Having displayed the same days of the same month in the same year over top of one another, it’s quite clear how different we are from one another. From the way we see the world, to our styles of documenting it, and pretty much our entire lives as a whole. But by living in the present, and thus with curiosity, we find this only adds to our friendship and individual experiences as a whole. 

As mentioned initially, none of this necessarily comes easy to us either, which is why we embarked on this project in the first place. Paradoxically it seems that when you’re out of your comfort zone or not “in control,” that it is then when you are the most present. Therefore much of this was structured to get each of us a little uncomfortable in our own ways. For Lance, someone comfortable in photography but who never draws – and certainly never shows his drawings in a gallery – that factor was incorporated to wake him up to the present, to see and document his experience in a new way, a much slower way. Whereas for Steve, someone who draws regularly, as well as for his career, the five photographs required per day were intended to open his eyes to the moment by moment compositions of each day. Then, to keep the both of us on our toes, we chose a random word or topic each day, taking turns and sending it to the other the morning of, which was the prompt for the drawing. Thus forcing us to really see and be throughout the day, looking for an object, experience, or feeling in our direct lives that aligned with the prompt in one way or another. Lastly, the journal entries are meant to solidify this becoming, to cultivate the fruits of being present. It was said by Trevor Hudson, a scholar on Ignatian spirituality, that “we don’t change from our experience, we change when we reflect on our experience.” Thus these are our reflections, of our life’s happenings as a whole, on the project itself, regrets, hopes, or things seemingly unrelated. They’re meant to also provide you, the viewer, with some context as well, and to bring a sense of authenticity and rawness to a gallery where it often feels like we’re tempted to put our “best,” which can so easily end up being some unrealistic edited version of reality. 

— Lance Kriesh, Stephen Kanicki, ’20