College of DuPage Wings Gallery hosts free virtual art exhibit on 'Ancestral Totems'

The College of DuPage Wings Student Art Gallery is currently hosting the exhibit "We've Been Here Before: Balance from Ancestral Totems," presented via the Cleve Carney Museum of Art website.

Created by COD student Charles Morrison, the virtual exhibit and features images and video of his ceramic work that tap into Morrison's skills as a ceramist and performer, his sense of spiritual awareness and the profound connection he has to his ancestral roots.

The series of ceramic vessels also create a sacred space for the artist to lead a Kemetic exercise. This exercise is centered around the power of the breath and the ability to restore balance and proper circulation to the body and brain through conscious breathing.

"This exhibit was inspired by our current times; the seemingly ongoing chaos, the overload of information and distractions, the uncertainty of our future," Morrison said. "I felt we all needed to take a few moments to just be and breathe."

While he knew he wanted to create an exhibit from his ceramic work, Morrison said he initially was unsure exactly how to display the pieces or what to incorporate in a video. After learning about the breathing technique from a yoga instructor, he thought it would be a perfect pairing for his artwork.

"I want my viewers to leave this exhibition with piece of mind, a calm heart and a little more knowledge of self. I think that by focusing on our breath in this way and intentionally being still and breathing for a few minutes, we can learn more about ourselves and start to make those connections back to our spirits, ultimately remembering who we are, where we come from and why we are here. These sentiments and intentions are embedded in the framework of my Ancestral Totems and I hope that the viewers can feel and receive those messages from watching the video."

Entering his third year taking classes at COD this fall, Morrison earned his bachelor's degree in sociology from St. Joseph's College in Rensselaer, Ind.

During his junior year at St. Joseph's, he took a ceramics class and instantly fell in love with the medium and the process. Soon after, he realized he wanted to go back to school to get a master's degree in fine arts in order to teach at the collegiate level. That led him to COD where he has been building his portfolio and preparing for graduate school.

Listing the college's stellar materials, studio spaces and professors, Morrison said that coming to COD was one of the best decisions he could have made for his art career.

"The best thing about my experiences at COD has been the tremendous growth and evolution that my art practice has undergone due to the guidance of my professors and the exposure to new materials and processes," he said. "There's no doubt that I would not be the artist I am today without my time at COD and I'm forever thankful for the college and its professors and students alike for this growth and evolution."

Check out the online exhibition at theccma.org/weve-been-here-before-gallery.