UPIKE’s Weber Art Gallery features collaborative poetry and photography exhibit

The University of Pikeville’s (UPIKE) Weber Art Gallery is delighted to feature a new exhibit called Still/Life. In this exhibit, the poetry of Deni Naffziger and the photography of Mark Hackworth are paired together in what they have described as “a biography of existence” through thought and image. This collaboration is about aesthetics and beauty and what those concepts inspire in the day-to-day.

Both earned their advanced degrees from Ohio University in Athens, with Naffziger obtaining her master of arts with an emphasis in 20th-century literature and creative writing and Hackworth receiving his master of fine arts with an emphasis in printmaking and painting.

Early in Naffziger’s career, she worried that her poetry was too personal but grew in her understanding that everyone and everything are connected.

“My individual experience may be unique to me, but my experiences are not so different from yours,” said Naffziger. “I write what I know, and sometimes I write what I wonder about. And I can only imagine that you have known or wondered about the very same things.”

Hackworth says early on in life, he recognized that being conscious of our own mortality is what separates us from other species in this world.

“Within the context of this temporary space and time comes beauty,” explained Hackworth. “The appreciation for the moment, the desire to share empathy and understanding, is something that I want to accomplish as an artist.”

UPIKE Professor of Art Patricia Kowalok, and Associate Professor of Art Petra Carroll, are excited to host this exhibit that dares to explain time as the essential fourth dimension that keeps us grounded in the now, the before and the after.

“I have found that the definition of ‘time’ can be a fluid thing, depending on the context,” said Kowalok. “The work is magical, transformative and evocative. It invites the viewer to be aware of certain givens and to consider them with fresh references.”

A reception is scheduled for September 22 at 4:30 p.m. in the gallery, located on the second floor of the Record Memorial Building, where the poet and photographer will both be in attendance to discuss their work. UPIKE cordially invites the community to attend the reception and the exhibit. 

For more information, contact Kowalok at (606) 218-5758 or Carroll at (606) 218-5759.