For Sorgho Elementary School art teacher Brian Murphy, art makes him feel whole. Over the last three years, he has been using that feeling and several others to craft the projects in Kentucky Wesleyan College’s Art Forever exhibit.
Murphy finds his inspiration at the intersection of several things he grew up with such as MTV, skateboarding and magazines. He utilizes those items and pop culture and ties them with his emotions and dreams to make his art connect with the viewer.
“They sort of build a connection to tell a story and that’s what a lot of the work is that you’ll see in the exhibit. It just tells a story. It might be just a moment; it might be a memory,” Murphy said.
As an art teacher Murphy has found himself trying several different mediums to convey his art as part of a lesson he teaches his students— “there’s many different roads to success.”
His process for finding art is different than many, as he goes to different avenues to find materials to use. All the while, he tries to evoke some form of emotion in the viewer.
One of the pieces in the exhibit named ‘I always feel like I’m constantly in trouble’ hones in on anxiety. While he was making the piece, Murphy thought about healthy and creative ways to cope with the anxiety that one can develop.
“They’re a personal extension of a thought or feeling or idea that I had, maybe an experience,” Murphy said.
While he wants to evoke emotion, he also wants to inspire and push the idea that art is something all people can make.
“I want people to see art can be accepted and inclusive to everyone. People with disabilities can make art, people of different races can make art, people with different beliefs can make art,” Murphy said.
The exhibit is open through Sept. 3 at the Ralph Center, located at South Griffith Avenue and College Drive. Murphy will be spending Aug. 21 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to talk to any guests wanting to learn more about the art or himself.
