Abstruse Sphere, Sherron Smith
My first experience at HJ’s Youth and Community Center reconfirmed my love for the Kansas City arts scene. I was familiar with Sheron Smith’s public works displayed on the Art in the Loop’s “Big Board” and her works for the Kansas City Parade of Hearts, but “Journey: Beyond the Surface” is something entirely different.
For a while, I stood in front of Smith’s painting Abstruse Sphere hung in the hallway as patrons ordered vanilla lattes and cappuccinos from the coffee shop a few feet away. Learning that Smith used a knife as her primary tool in this painting, the tactile surface begged me to come closer.
I found myself thinking about the sublime, gravitating toward the radiant celestial body as though it was physically pulling me in, attempting to share a secret with me. According to Smith, in Abstruse Sphere, we’re not necessarily looking at an object, but instead, “a profound, psychological portal.”
After peeling myself away from the portal, I realized that texture is everything in this exhibition. Since childhood, Smith has cultivated her ardor for applying found objects and available materials to her pieces, causing the materials and textures to speak boldly and without restraint.
“I want ‘Journey: Below the Surface’ to convey the idea that beauty and complexity are rarely found on the top layer,” Smith said. By intentionally pairing opposing color combinations — like fiery oranges against cold, fractured teals — I created a high-contrast environment where every block of color is actively fighting to break through.”
Studying several paintings from afar and then inching closer, I noticed myself drifting into a meditative state. But much like in my own meditation practice, I became distracted and searched for anything that made sense. As all humans incessantly do, I searched for something recognizable, even when I told myself it isn’t necessary to find a pattern in Smith’s paintings. Yet, with some persistence, some paintings delivered on my desire. Upon careful observation, Enigmatic Illusion, and Enigmatic Matrix respectively reveal a concealed portrait and a perplexing numerical sequence.
Angie Jennings, art coordinator at HJ’s, said, “This exhibition introduces abstract art, which is open to the viewer’s individual interpretation, evaluation and feeling. Being held in HJ’s Youth and Community Center, sponsored by St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, it opens this work to a wider community.”
Physical and digital landscapes, cityscapes and seascapes expand Smith’s artworks into something less about our individual selves and more about the universe we share. And even while noticing that bigger picture, I found myself circling back to my lived experience.
In Textural Mosaic 1 and 2 I was reminded of the materials and labor involved with being the owner of a house built more than 60 years ago. In the painting, I see textured lines made from a grout trowel, drywall, wood and paint. These are the colors and visuals of the materials that make up my house. Those materials are home, where my children are growing up and where my pets live out their lives. Those materials are everything, and I owe it to Sheron Smith for reminding me how significant that is.
“Sheron Smith Journey: Beyond the Surface” continues at HJ’s Youth and Community Center, 6425 Wornoll Rd., through Nov. 7. Hours are 8 to 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, 816.377.2652 or www.hjsbrookside.org.
