Home Makover
by Virginia Rougon Chavis

February 26 - April 6, 2008
Reception, Sunday, March 30, 1:30-3 p.m.

Virginia Rougon Chavis
Artist Statement

The prints in this exhibition, Home Makeover, were carefully chosen from a series portraying household and botanical imagery. My southern heritage was a springboard and large part in its development. I grew up with parents who taught me to appreciate gardening, paying special attention to native plants. I learned from my mother to identify plants using botanical names, as common plant names are not consistent and sometimes cause confusion. I was also taught to strive to achieve my goals and to become successful in anything I attempted.

The garden is where these prints actually began. I grew several plants from seeds and observed their growth and development in the earth at different stages. In the prolonged, quiet process, I was able to record what I saw through drawing on paper and photography. These studies, combined with a formal knowledge of design, lead to the serigraph, relief and digital processes. Printing, for me, is the most enjoyable process because of its unpredictability – many adjustments are made including changes in color and composition. As the images progressed into vector imagery, I was eventually willing to release some of the scientific data in order to obtain more visual interest. The threads that run through the prints are aesthetic and functional, as they hold the paper together.

I have learned that almost any part of life can be compared to what one observes in nature. I compare fairly recent changes in my life to the changes in the seasons. For most of my existence, I refused to believe I would ever want to marry and certainly never have a family – I thought those things would hold me back in accomplishing my goals as a professional (frankly, I didn’t want to do what many women my age were doing at the time). Eventually I changed my mind on both of those ideas and began to look at life differently. Perhaps the wind blew my life in a different direction…

Instead of struggling monotonously to climb the rungs on my ladder, I have become inspired by the new growth that happens each day. Just as I had planted seeds in my garden and covered them with a quilt of soil to grow in the sun, I wake up each morning with excitement of what the new day will bring. Some days it seems as though nothing changes and I am going through life just waiting for spring to arrive. At other times it seems as though I must be some sort of superhero to be able to take on the tasks at hand. I used to feel as though home was a place that held me back. Now, I can’t wait to get there and see the new changes that have taken place each day.

Virginia Rougon Chavis, originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has been a part of the Art Department faculty at The University of Mississippi since January of 2002. She received her MFA from Savannah College of Art and Design, where she gained experience in teaching Typography and Production Design.