Gretchen Beck: Torridity
Gretchen Beck, associate professor of art and director of the art department at Concordia University in Irvine, California, will exhibit her drawings based on the degradation of the Nigerian landscape, the Djarma and Fulani cultures and the art forms made by the Nigerian people.
Beck's work takes place in what the Djarma people call saaji fimbi or severe desert. In her artist statement, Beck writes of Niger being a predominantely Muslim country where rituals such as alms giving, washing before prayer and facing to the east five times a day brings a sense of order to an uncertain existence. In her drawings on exhibit in Central Gallery, Beck chooses to emphasize geometric structure to highlight the importance of regiment in Nigerian culture.
With a population that continues to increase, Niger continues to lose its natural resources and suffers from desertification. Desertification occurs when arrid lands become "desert-like" due to a lack of rainfall, loss of topsoil, and timber. Thus the barren landscape challenges geometric structure to highlight the importance of regiment in Nigerian culture.
Beck's drawings reference Niger's indigenous trees. The medium of drawing serves as an effective tool to express Beck's experience living and working in Niger. Beck believes that drawing's slow and patient nature invites onlookers into the artistic process.
