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Beeswax paintings of trees and landscapes adorn the interior of Syracuse’s Edgewood Gallery. Accompanying the pastel brushstrokes are ringed wooden vessels intended to depict self-reflection. The exhibit includes different art mediums such as encaustic paintings, chiseled wooden vessels, sculptural jewelry and nature photography.

Together, the artwork by four artists Linda Bigness, Geoffrey Navias, Susan Machamer and Marna Bell make up Holiday Hues, an exhibition hosted during the holidays to promote the talents of local artists, said Edgewood owner Cheryl Chappell. The exhibit emphasizes the impact of climate change through various mediums.

“When people come in to see the art, it’s a very personal experience,” Chappell said. “Art is a very important part of our lives and that to me is the most important of any exhibit. You get people to absorb beauty, aesthetics and appreciate the better, finer things of humanity.”

Chappell has lived in Syracuse her entire life. She majored in sculpture at Syracuse University and opened Edgewood Gallery in 1989. As she values cohesion in every display at the gallery, Chappell primarily presents pieces that incorporate elements of ceramics, stone sculpture and glass. A jewelry case that changes with each exhibition is also included to complement paintings and sculptures.

“Aesthetically, it’s about the 2D and the 3D working together,” Chappell said.

Navias, one of the artists in the exhibit, spent 36 years as the artistic director of Syracuse’s Open Hand Theater. He retired from the job 10 years ago and became a resident artist at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia, NY. During his time at the Art Park, where he experimented with visual art, he was struck by changes in the world around him.

“I was in a delicate space in the middle of nature at the same time that other people were starting to experience the real, early stages of noticeable climate change upon them,” Navias said.

He began a journey in thinking about his responsibility as an artist that required him to frame his community’s questions and search for ways to exercise his response to the dilemma before him. Navias examined the places he’d lived and loved and considered them in the context of climate change.

From his works, he poses two main questions: “What is so precious that you, as an individual, put into a ‘Sacred Vessel’?” and “What do we even consider sacred?” Navias encourages visitors of the Holiday Hues exhibition to think about these questions as they observe and interact with the vessels.

Around that same time, a series of irregular storms passed through central New York, resulting in dozens of fallen trees. Though initially perplexed by this geographical change, he imagined these trees as divine objects. Navias collected broken wood from logs, dried it and crafted the pieces into “Sacred Vessel” sculptural pieces.

“On an individual level, I’m asking people to consider what, symbolically, is precious to you?” Navias said.

Also featured in Holiday Hues are abstract paintings by SU alumna Linda Bigness, who graduated from the university in 1981. Fifteen years ago in Wales, she discovered a group of artists who practiced encaustic, an art style that uses beeswax to paint. Her engagement with the medium inspired her shift away from oil painting and toward a new interest.

“I was fascinated and said ‘I’m going to try this’ and I did and I haven’t stopped,” Bigness said. “It’s been wonderful, I so enjoy it.”

She said her art is thought-provoking and meant to make people realize “all that’s beautiful is not necessarily safe.” A piece of hers appearing in Holiday Hues is titled “Along the Falls,” which draws a particular focus to pollution in the Earth’s oceans and rivers.

For this season’s show, Bigness’ work focuses on nature, the environment and ever-changing climates. One of her paintings is titled “Three Trees.”

“The three trees are somewhat barren, yet they’re surviving in a field of color. But the trees are also telling you ‘Hey! We may be in trouble if you don’t do something about the climate,’” Bigness said.

With each artist’s work in Holiday Hues, visitors are encouraged to think beyond this season of celebration and consider the world in which they live. Chappell hopes the exhibition will attract art lovers who appreciate functionality, diverse art styles and various mediums.

“If people took the time to look at paintings like ‘Three Trees,’ they would be able to understand its message,” Bigness said. “There’s always something that lies beyond the surface.”

Published on November 26, 2023 at 10:00 pm