“Planting Seeds, Cultivating Art,” a new exhibition featuring oil paintings and oil pastels by artist Kimberly Machovec-Smith, will be on display at Foster Art Gallery in Patterson Hall on the Westminster College campus beginning Monday, Jan. 13.

Years ago, Machovec-Smith's child brought home a small bean wrapped in a damp cloth from school. Planting and watching the bean grow inspired her to create paintings that reflected the beauty of nature.

“I was captivated by the metamorphosis of the original seed and its amazing capacity for reproduction,” said Machovec-Smith.

Observing a garden filled with emerging green beans that stemmed from one seed gave continued motivation for her work.

“The emerging roots and stem often mimic elements of the human figure. The similarities in form invite the audience to contemplate the connection between humans and nature,” said Machovec-Smith.

Oil pastels and oil paint on wood are two mediums used to show textures that intricately demonstrate the life cycle of seeds. Machovec-Smith used vibrant colors, varied supportive materials and layers of technique to examine details often missed by the human eye.

“I emphasize the earthy, organic appearance of sprouting seeds using oil pastels on recycled support materials. These supports include slate roofing tiles from a retired dairy barn, steel siding from a crumbling homestead, wood from a century barn, and discarded pallets,” said Machovec-Smith, “On wood the softened medium is absorbed by the support, often causing an oily silhouette to form around the image, uniting the image with the material forever.”

Machovec-Smith is a native of Iowa and completed her M.A. degree in art conservation from Buffalo State College. Upon graduation, she worked on archaeological projects in Guatemala and Peru and in museum laboratories at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Field Museum in Chicago.

She is co-owner of Abbe Creek Gallery in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and manager of the museum store at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. She began her career focused on combining her love for art, history and science and now focuses on painting.

“Each series of paintings is used to illustrate the observable activity or the concealed beauty of the plants that feed us,” said Machovec-Smith.

A gallery reception will be held at 12:45 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 23, in the Foster Art Gallery.

The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. The Foster Art Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday beginning on Monday, Jan. 13 through Friday, Feb. 7.

For more information about the exhibition or the gallery reception, please contact Summer Zickefoose, gallery director and associate professor of art, at zickefse@westminster.edu.

"Corn, Corn, Corn" — oil pastel and oil paint on wood

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