Artist hopes exhibit will help encourage greater interaction
Artist Evelyn Walg misses the days when handwritten letters and face-to-face interaction were commonplace.
That sentiment is inspiration to her collection “In Motion,” the newest exhibit in the ArtsPark at Young Circle’s gallery in Hollywood.
“I belong to the past generation,” Walg said. “I miss the human touch and looking into your eyes. It’s so sad that we’re losing personal contact.”
“In Motion,” which opens Monday, features about 20 pieces of mixed media and acrylic on canvas. Most paintings portray people holding hands, leaning on each other and interacting. The people, who are painted onto vivid backgrounds, are running or dancing and happy to be in each other’s company.
Walg said text messaging and social media have essentially disconnected people.
“Everybody is in contact, but nobody is together,” she said. “I find that today’s people are very far apart from each other. These paintings have people touching each other and being together.”
Walg hopes that audiences will realize the im- portance of needing each other and going beyond superficial interaction.
“I’m very optimistic,” Walg said. “I like bright colors, and I like to see the positive in things. That’s my style.”
It’s a style that Walg has been perfecting for nearly half a century, starting at age 11. She particularly connected with art after her parents died when she was 15.
“I learned to express my feelings through paintings,” Walg said. “The paintings could say couldn’t.”
Though she’s been active in the South Florida art world, this is Walg’s first time working with Hollywood. It’s a partnership that formed during an exhibition in Wynwood.
The exhibit runs through Feb. 27, and the gallery is open from noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
For more information, call 954-921-3500.
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that Sara Shell can be reached at sshell@tribune.com.