On View
Not on viewObject number2017.32
Gateway to Memory
Artist
Vandorn Hinnant
(American, 1953)
Date1998
Mediumacrylic paint and Prismacolor on cotton rag paper
Dimensionsimage: 12 × 12 in. (30.5 × 30.5 cm)
mat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
frame: 20 7/8 × 17 × 1 1/2 in. (53 × 43.2 × 3.8 cm)
mat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
frame: 20 7/8 × 17 × 1 1/2 in. (53 × 43.2 × 3.8 cm)
Credit LineElisabeth Claire Lahti Fund
Exhibition History"Round and Round," KIA, Ethel Denton Groos Gallery, November 6, 2017 - March 4, 2018; Sightlines Collection Highlight, fall 2018, on display in lobby August/September 2018.
"Resilience: African American Artists as Agents of Change," at the KIA (September 14, 2019 - February 16, 2020)
"Resilience: African American Artists as Agents of Change," [Travel Version] at the Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City, MI (June 6, 2021 - August, 15, 2021)Label TextGateway to Memory is a prime example of Vandorn Hinnant’s ongoing exploration of the mathematical and scientific study of the universe. Based on the golden ratio, Hinnant has grounded his compositions in sculpture, drawing, and mixed-media paper works on an awareness of universal order. He says his forms are “a reflection of the geometries of nature and embody some of the energetic matrices of Nature’s pre-material templates.” They are a direct connection between the arts and sciences. Gateway to Memory has a delicate surface that is layered with subtle color shifts and intricate marks that indicate an energy that magnifies the human experience in relationship to the cosmos. When two or more circles share a radius they become the foundation for all of Hinnant’s artworks. “I see the circle as a symbolic representation of the human soul—the soul’s origins,” he says. The fine lines produced by the tracing of concentric circles with Prismacolor pencils and acrylic paint actually produce delicate layers of surface textures in very fine, minute detail. But it’s the mapping of the space by the overlapping of circular patterns that brings energetic life to the composition. Gateway literally radiates from the center in a colored burst resembling the visual scene of a star being born. The multi-layered symmetrical mandala grows from an ancient Tibetan tradition of creating physical patterns to represent sound—known from ancient times to be, along with light, one of the dual aspects of creation. As Hinnant states, “The harmonic spatial frequencies embedded in my work reminds me of a quality of being that is attainable by all. This geometry has the potential to activate our often dormant awareness of universal order, and the love, beauty, and grace of the soul.” [Collection Highlight]
