Senior art exhibition: Where mankind and habitat intersect

Where are the lines between human, plant and animal?

Central Washington University senior artist Sofia Romero explores connections between the human and non-human world to invent dreamlike spaces in their upcoming senior exhibition, Kept Awake. Their work is informed by personal perception and memory and invites viewers to examine their own experiences with nature.

The opening reception for Kept Awake will be Monday, May 1, from 5-7 p.m. at Gallery 231 in Randall Hall on the CWU campus. The exhibition will be open through May 5. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Romero's work discovers symbolic, taxonomical, and physical similarities within natural and man-made phenomenon, and visually interpret these similarities within painting, sculpture, and drawing.

"Sometimes the connection is as simple as a base color," they said. "I see that one animal matches another, and then find out they both exclusively eat ants or something. I've had ants in my kitchen many times. All of the sudden, I have an invisible thread that ties me to these other creatures, a basis for a piece."

To learn more about the Kept Awake exhibtion, email Romeroso@cwu.edu.

Artist statement

I have always been enamored by nature. When I was younger, I dedicated a lot of time to documentaries and field guides, learning as much as I could about the world. The more I learned, the more I was confronted with difficult truths. I couldn't quantify the inherent amorality of predation, parasitism, disease or untimely death through my young, Christian lens. My own fear of death fed my disdain for predators, for the violence so inextricably tied to their existence. Just as age has enhanced the clarity of my artistry, it has expanded my appreciation to include the natural world's inherent morbidity. I realized that death was a part of life, and life was beautiful. Before this realization, however, I lost a lot of sleep over the issue.

Creating art is a means through which I can understand the difficult world, how its elements fit together and how to communicate the connections that I discover. These connections are visual, taxonomical, or symbolic, and I combine them with memories and personal experiences to find subjects for my work. Through sculpture, oil painting, and drawing, I express difficult emotions, come to terms with fears and flaws, and study the intersections between the world occupied by humans and the lives in the ecosystems that surround us. These are the things that keep me awake.

-Sofia Romero