2019 Whetsell Fellow Micah Tiffin presents art gallery
On Feb. 20, Micah Tiffin, ‘20 presented “Gummy Labyrinth,” a visual arts exhibit filled with his own creations. Tiffin’s gallery features many different pieces, including canvas paintings, sculpture and a massive interactive fort made of quilts and other found-around-the-house materials.
The process of creating “Gummy Labyrinth” began with Tiffin’s application to be a Whetsell Fellow. The Whetsell Memorial Fellowship is an art endowment set up in memory of Dan Whetsell by his brother Dr. William Whetsell. Through the summer fellowship program, one Wofford student is given funding for faculty instruction and art supplies that they use to create a final display in the Richardson Family Art Gallery, located in the exhibit space to the left of the main lobby in the Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Center for the Arts. Tiffin originally applied to be a Whetsell Fellow his sophomore year, but with some revision and rethinking, earned the endowment his junior year instead.
“My advice for a future fellow would be to demonstrate with their portfolio that can execute their proposal, to be open to learn and adapt throughout the process, and to work hard so that it will be worth it once it’s done,” said Tiffin.
A sense of childhood drives the pieces in Tiffin’s exhibit. Bright colors and variant mediums are found throughout the pieces in the gallery. “Memory and sensation were driving factors, but largely my work tries to create an opportunity for the viewer to derive their own meaning.”
The focal point of the exhibit—the large child-like fort in the middle of the room—is decked with objects such as quilts, pool noodles and sheets, similar to what a child would find around the house when trying to make a fun playspace.
“The fort within the show was pieced together from thrift stores, mom and pop shops, home improvement stores, people’s homes, online and personal possessions” said Tiffin. “I chose objects instinctively, mostly picking from what was readily available. It was less about knowing and more about finding.”
Along with the fort, “Gummy Labyrinth” includes wall art created by Tiffin. One piece was created using crayons for illustration, a traditionally unused medium in fine art because it can be difficult to work with precisely. But all of the wall art includes bright pops of rainbow colors, including a hanging ladder reaching the ceiling of the exhibition. One piece stands out—a stacked-chair sculpture at the entrance of the exhibit. The sculpture is almost entirely black with some tan, but it is a stark contrast to the bright colors found in the other pieces.
After trial-and-error, Tiffin arrived at the design for the sculpture in the exhibit: “I found the right arrangement of this dark, banal chair-balancing act. The negative space within the piece was intriguing as well.”
The exhibition is on display in the Richardson Family Art Gallery until March 6.
