You can enjoy the contemplative space of “On The Wall” in the Smith Center for the Arts at Providence College through Sept. 30.
TRANSCRIPT:
Jamilee Lacy: When you walk into the gallery, it’s a little bit like a tunnel space. It’s a long room, you walk in at the shorter part of the room, and you look about 45 feet into the distance. On all of the walls there are geometric designs that look a little bit like mazes that have been broken up with triangles. So the entire space is enveloped inside of this black and brightly colored and gray geometric design. And then in the middle of the room are two benches that have reflecting mirrors in the center of them. So they are perceived as if they are small reflection pools. As a viewer, you can walk around the benches to view the entire space, or you can stop and sit directly on the benches. It’s a little bit like sitting directly on an artwork or on a sculpture. So in that sense, it’s very much an interactive space because you are meant to sit down, take a load off, gaze into the reflecting pool and think about whatever you like, but really ponder that complexity of the space and perhaps how that relates to your own life.
James Baumgartner: I understand that Edie Fake’s “On The Wall” was inspired by his travels in Italy. What can you tell me about that?
Lacy: Edie … has a really interesting relationship to Catholicism as a trans man and an activist – was always interested in how he could explore that complicated tension between his identity as a Catholic or someone who had grown up in a devout household, and somebody who was exploring gender identity. And [he] decided to travel to Italy to explore some of the grottoes there and think about, in the Catholic faith, how you reflect on complexity. And also to look into some of these areas, particularly different grottoes that are lesser known, to think about and learn about different figures that were pushing against Catholic tradition, or that were exploring their faith and the ways in which their individual faith and their individual quest for knowledge fit into a Catholic tradition.
Baumgartner: When I walked into the space, it reminded me of a calm courtyard space. You know, the dark tones, the pools, but there’s a high energy to it at the same time. How do you see it?
Lacy: I see the space as one that is full of joy, and is deeply referential to both abstraction and to spirituality, especially as it relates to decoration. And then I also see those sort of dark tones that underpin a lot of high-key color and reflection as referencing some of the cave-like structures that Edie was exploring in those grottoes. … Providence College actually has this really interesting history of developing spaces for reflection on campus. And not all of those spaces are intrinsically tied to Catholicism. A lot of times they have been spaces that quietly embrace different faiths, interfaith, or even just, you know, that need as a college student who’s living in a dorm with, you know, four or five other kids, needing a space where they can go and really think about the things that matter to them or reconnect with themselves.
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