{"id":9167,"date":"2018-02-01T17:00:39","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T17:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/galleries\/?p=9167"},"modified":"2021-12-02T20:39:21","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T20:39:21","slug":"the-battle-within","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/galleries\/2018\/02\/01\/the-battle-within\/","title":{"rendered":"THE BATTLE WITHIN by MAXWELL PREUS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

FEBRUARY\u00a019 \u2013 MARCH 1, 2018<\/h2>\n

Christensen Center Student Art Gallery<\/h3>\n

Artist Talk: Thursday, March 1,\u00a05:30 – 7\u00a0p.m. Christensen Center Student Art Gallery<\/h4>\n

The Battle Within<\/i>\u00a0is a series of painted and stained wood pallets that portray the artist’s experience with depression. By utilizing sequencing and both the floor and the wall for installation, the work evokes a tonal journey spanning congested darkness to something simpler and calm.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bio<\/h4>\n

Maxwell Preus is a current senior at Augsburg University and is twenty-two years old. His senior exhibit delves into themes regarding mental illness and overcoming obstacles. He is interested in portraying the complexities of the human mind and spirit.<\/p>\n

Statement<\/h4>\n

I enjoy sculpting large pieces in clay, typically beginning with a basic idea and then letting the pieces take on a life of their own. I allow the clay to have its freedom because sometimes things shift on you overnight or even break in the kiln. I expect these issues to happen so I don\u2019t let the frustration build but rather try to create something special out of possible imperfections. Kind of like life. Things happen.<\/p>\n

This past year I decided to explore another media. Much like the clay, I found an analogy to life in my wood pieces, specifically as to how they developed through my experience with depression. As I began creating projects using wood and paint, I found myself drawn to working with weightier pieces and the emerging images were rather dark. This seemed to coincide with how I was feeling. Upon returning from a semester in Spain, I felt a disturbing sense of hopelessness. Everything in my life was overwhelming. I even considered quitting school as each day was a struggle. Working with heavy materials proved to be centering for me and, figuratively speaking, I could escape what felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders. It was through the creative process that I could peek through the blinders. Gradually the depression lifted and I felt like myself again.<\/p>\n

I feel that I went through this difficult time so that I can empathize with those who suffer. I am lucky. I experienced a brief, yet intense, glimpse into the depths of despair that can haunt people for months, years, a lifetime, and I worked to portray this through my art.<\/p>\n

\n

images from exhibit<\/h2>\n

\"\" \"\" \"\" \"\" \"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FEBRUARY\u00a019 \u2013 MARCH 1, 2018 Christensen Center Student Art Gallery Artist Talk: Thursday, March 1,\u00a05:30 – 7\u00a0p.m. Christensen Center Student …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,4,166],"tags":[133,178,27,189,191,9,190,63,192],"class_list":["post-9167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artist-statement-bio","category-exhibition-and-events-calendar","category-student-gallery","tag-133","tag-exhibit","tag-installation","tag-maxwell","tag-maxwell-preus","tag-painting","tag-preus","tag-spring","tag-wood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/galleries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/galleries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/galleries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/galleries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/galleries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9167"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/galleries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11743,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/galleries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9167\/revisions\/11743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/galleries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/galleries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/galleries\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}