Artist delves into ideas of existence at Longboat exhibition

JC Wayne's fine-line, primarily black-and-white paintings invite viewers to step closer for inspection, and a bit of introspection.

The artist recently installed a new nine-piece gallery at All Angels by the Sea Episcopal Church, titled "Atomic Universe."

Each piece represents a different stage of development on a small scale, and her collection folds in themes of spirituality, science and art.

"They're different expressions of nature, of creative nature," she said. 

The collection went up at the beginning of December and will remain available for viewing until the end of January.

Photo by Dana Kampa

She drew inspiration from a creative festival coinciding with the winter solstice of 2022.

"I tune into what is being shared and expressed," she said. "It was basically a new image for each day of the festival."

Starting at zero, the pieces are titled "Seed," "Egg," "Kernel," "Light," "Pollen," "Pod," "Valence," "Root" and "Bloom."

Wayne said this series was recently on display in Chicago. She endeavors to capture the potential and growth of life in her works.

When it comes to materials, Wayne is just as thoughtful as she is with her concepts. The black paper is handmade by women in India repurposing used saris, combining the fabric with paper pulp to craft the sustainable canvases.

She layers that with white gesso primer to give her a blank surface. Then, she paints her intricate designs with a sparkling, sustainable, hand-mixed mica gouache.

"I use earth- or plant-based materials," she said. "This is a silver mica, so the direct spotlights really light it up."

Each piece takes on a life of its own. Some, she painted lightly with the gesso, allowing the contrasting paper to gleam through in places. With others, she layered it on more thickly, giving the pieces prominent cracks.

"It was very spontaneously inspired by the nature of each of these atoms," she said.

Photo by Dana Kampa

When viewers first walk into the gallery space from the outside, they are met with painting number 0, "Seed."

Wayne said the shape evokes a yet-to-split-open seed, symbolic of the potential for life.

The series continues with different phases of growth.

Most of the paintings feature two lines intersecting at the center, and Wayne said this cross shows some of the divine themes of her work.

Gesturing to one vertical line, she said, "This is an axis of our spiritual being." Pointing to the intersecting horizontal line, she said, "And this is the axis of our daily living, relating with other people."

As the series reaches the middle, Wayne said she drew more heavily upon scientific imagery, envisioning a seed pod starting to sprout.

She said "Valence" particularly draws out both science and spirituality. Like a sprouting seed, a curling tendril starts to reach skyward. But that sprout is also climbing up along the "divine" axis she created.

"After reaching the consciousness on the ground, then the realization turns upward again," she said. "It's like it's saying, 'Oh, there is something for us to be devoted to.'"

One piece she is most curious to hear reactions to is the final painting, "Bloom." While all the others are painted, this final piece digitally layers all the preceding images into one final design on transparency paper.

"What was needed for this one was the diaphanous effect, to be able to see each layer," she said. "I hope what people experience is seeing the fullness of who they are, and the fullness of who human beings are, and the fullness of the planet, and all the communities of the planet, be they animal, mineral — every form of being."

Each work is paired with a tanka-style poem she wrote. Like the popular haiku form of Japanese poetry, this style relies on a specific structure of syllables per line.

"It's challenging to work in that very formal structure, and most of my artwork is totally impressionist, very loose and very fast," she said. "With tanka, you've got to boil straight down to the essence. You can't have anything extra — you have to get right down to the heart of the meaning. Each poem is the description of the nature of these atoms."

Wayne grew up with a love for poetry from the age of 2 or 3, and she has been grateful to pursue her career as an adult after making it her main focus in 2019.

She is one of half a dozen artists who, like previous exhibitor Zerbe Sodervick, met at an earlier debut exhibition by Christine Hales at All Angels. The cohort of artists agreed to bring their works for community members to experience and contemplate.

"I was all in from the beginning," she added.

Wayne's works are available for purchase, either as an original or a museum-quality print.

To learn more about Wayne's work, visit JCWayne.com.