Artists have a tough job. They have to discover their own voice and reflect that in creations made from scratch. This poses a frustrating challenge that many dread, especially Shaw Lenox ’20. Though he started doing art at a young age, he’s since gone back and forth with it, experiencing many barriers along the way.
Lenox quickly knew he had a knack for art. But by the time he reached high school, he lost interest for it: “I got in my head about it, because I was thinking what’s going to make money.”
Lenox is not alone with this thought — it seems to be a constant voice in the head of all artists trying to make a name for themselves.
Through this evolution of artistic expression, Lenox has found a style that is uniquely his and recognizable as his own. In the beginning of this semester, Lenox saw that Case Gallery had been vacant for a while so jumped at the chance to fill it with his work. As a result, little pieces of his design can be found throughout campus — a scattering of stickers that people took from the exhibit.
“I think something interesting and important about the work is that people see it,” he says. “I really wanted my work to reference itself. I want a thread of something so I spent a lot of time thinking about [creating] my own visual language, and what that entails.”
The pieces each encompass a different nature, but all reflect vibrant colors and geometric shapes, guided by big brush strokes that give it a youthful vibe.
Lennox is especially drawn to the concept of death and how you only get one shot at life. Because of this, he puts all his efforts into his artwork and wants to create a space where everyone can experience it, reflect on the world around them, and come to different conclusions on how the world looks for every person.
He wants to establish a narrative within the work that people follow throughout other pieces and identify with. The abstract nature of his work results in the viewer having to interpret what they see and think about the art piece.
“I see each piece as like a Rorschach test. What does the viewer see? What does the viewer observe? What is the effect on the viewer?”
This idea is consistent throughout his work. Each piece is left open for the viewer to interpret in their own way, while at the same time, fueling creative thought.
Throughout his pieces he has kept the colors consistent: reds and blues, yellows and greens. Shaw explained how “they’re the colors that things are when they are meant to be seen.”
They aren’t complicated hues meant to reflect an entirely new object, they are plain and simple shades that gives a sense of fun to his work. The consistency of the colors and the designs brings his artwork together, though each piece remains unique on its own.
Each artist has their own artistic process, some plan more specifically what they are going to do while others pull inspiration from different parts of the world and put it all together onto a canvas in whatever way they see fit. Lenox’s work is very free flowing. He says, “I don’t plan things; things come together when they come together, and that’s the nature of the work.”
This mentality of creating art is evident throughout his pieces, allowing for a space of discovery and free thinking that inevitably draws people to his art. Lenox’s artwork seems to come alive and jump off the canvas towards the viewer, enveloping them in the colors and shapes and lines.
Lenox has truly followed his passions and let his creativity reach its full potential; truly encompassing what it means to be your own artist.
“Once it stops living on the canvas, it starts living in your mind.”