As scientist and mathematician Albert Einstein once said, “the greatest scientists are artists as well.” Although they are separate disciplines, art and science often overlap when it comes to curiosity and interpretation. According to artist Morgan McClinton, the recent gallery “Opening of Living Matter: Flesh and Earth” showcased this connection, bridging art and science with its design and displays.
Seniors Morgan McClinton and Finley Vincent featured their art in the Eastern Star Gallery starting Wednesday, March 18. The gallery consisted of a variety of pieces, ranging from projected photos of eyes to silhouettes and ornaments filled with fake blood.
Vincent is not currently in an art class at Archer; however, they were inspired to collaborate for this show, as they have a strong passion for art, McClinton said. When the time came for senior shows, McClinton requested Vincent as a partner for the gallery.
“I’m in photography, and Finley’s actually not in an art because Finley’s a STEM person and is in too many sciences to be in art. So when they talked about the senior show, I was like, ‘I want Finley to have a chance to do a senior show because they weren’t able to do it because of science,’” McClinton said. “So we ended up being able to pull some strings and work together.”
Vincent said that their love for science has been a point of inspiration for a lot of their own art. Vincent said many of their pieces were inspired by their passion for science and that they took a scientific approach to the gallery show.
“I think for my art specifically, I’ve always been interested in bodily themes and the grotesque. I’ve always been into blood a lot. I’m involved in a lot of science research here,” Vincent said, “so I think that pushed me towards taking a more scientific approach to art instead of a more abstract one.”
Chiara Silveri (‘27) is a member of the Eastern Star Gallery and visited the show. Silveri takes photography with McClinton and said she noticed some of her work from class made it into the final gallery. Even though she had already seen some of the works, she said it felt different seeing them presented in a formal gallery.
“It was mostly the projection images, which I feel were some of the strongest ones she’s taken. They were eyes, projected onto and behind people,” Silveri said, “It was cool to see her take on the project and then to see that put up in the gallery.”
Inspired by McClinton and Vincent’s show, Silveri said she has been thinking about what she wants to put in her own gallery next year. She especially liked the combination of different art mediums, which she said made for a more unique and diverse gallery show.
“I didn’t know that we could do projects or exhibits with another person from a different medium,” Silveri said. “I do photography and it would be interesting to see what other people do and how we could pair those art forms together.”
McClinton said she hopes people go into the gallery with an open mindset. She said people tend to make initial hypotheses about the meaning of art pieces, but she hopes the gallery makes viewers reconsider their initial judgements.
“I want people to think. I don’t want people to just walk around. I want people to look at it, stop and think,” McClinton said. “I think a lot of our pieces cause confusion and make you rethink your first interpretations.”
