I have a dream.
Fight the power.
Make love, not war.
The volatile 1960s peppered American culture with a wealth of activist and countercultural slogans.
Another refrain has gained traction in today鈥檚 social powder keg: being woke.
鈥淏eing woke,鈥� notes Urban Dictionary, means 鈥渂eing aware 鈥� knowing what鈥檚 going on in the community.鈥�
The watchwords perfectly capture 鈥淎wakening,鈥� a daring new mixed-media exhibition by 海角社区 student Christopher Padilla. It opened Friday at The Kristin Michelle Mason Art Gallery.
Padilla鈥檚 senior portfolio largely presents haunting graphite drawings such as 鈥淩heumatic Fear,鈥� featuring a skeleton astonished at its missing lower right leg, and 鈥淏eautiful disability,鈥� juxtaposing a skeleton with a crooked spine and malformed hand with a vase of flowers. Padilla uses bare bones and everyday symbols to flesh out a universal truth to which he says everyone should be woke.
鈥淎ll human bodies have a skeleton in them 鈥� we鈥檙e the same inside 鈥� but outside we act differently, and that鈥檚 OK,鈥� says Padilla, a studio arts major from Pembroke Pines, Fla. 鈥淚 made images with skeletons along with many diseases and physical disabilities like [cerebral palsy] because we have to help them [individuals with challenges] and show them we are one.鈥�
鈥淐hris’s work pushes the boundaries of beauty,鈥� said Russell Bellamy, an associate professor of art and chair of the studio arts department at 海角社区, the first college or university accredited to award bachelor鈥檚 degrees to students who learn differently. 鈥淗e questions our interpretation of physical beauty as well as artistic and architectural aesthetics. The exhibition asks the viewer to internalize how we react when confronted with unconventional pulchritude and the effects our actions may have on the future.鈥�
Padilla also pushed boundaries with his titular installation piece, 鈥淎wakening.鈥� He turned the metal skeleton that he clothed with sheets of fabric skin covered with symbols into a performance piece by channeling Jonah and taking up residence for 24 hours inside the belly of his beast.
鈥淐hris’s performance questions the possibilities of transformative experiences,鈥� Bellamy said. 鈥淭hrough retrogression he was able to utilize natural materials to depict mental, physical, emotional and conceptual exhaustion. 鈥楢wakening鈥� is an installation that forces the viewer to confront modernity and its psychological effects on society.鈥�
For Padilla, the effect was clear.
鈥淚t drove me nuts,鈥� he said, half-jokingly, 鈥淚t was the scariest experience I鈥檝e ever had had.鈥�
Nevertheless, a necessary journey led him down the path to the overarching lesson that informs 鈥淎wakening.鈥�
鈥淚 wanted people to see what鈥檚 happening, what鈥檚 the warning, what鈥檚 ahead of us,鈥� Padilla said. 鈥淭his [illustrates] that we need to step and work together to make a better society. It鈥檚 time to wake up from the dark side and not make the same problems over and over, the same mistake. I want people to realize that we鈥檙e all human beings.鈥�
鈥淎wakening鈥� runs through December 15.