One (of Many) Interpretations of Befriend, Ishibashi Gallery’s Latest Show

Uncovering the underlying meaning of Morris and Zasloff’s complex exhibit

On September 14th, artists Meghan Morris and Eva Zasloff displayed their collaborative project, Befriend, to the Middlesex community. The exhibit interweaves a series of paintings and sculptures that, according to the gallery pamphlet, “embody the experience of finding, developing, and sustaining friendship” and explore the question of “what it means to befriend. To befriend another, to befriend all of the unseeable parts of ourselves, to befriend the world in all of its beauty and complexity.”

The sculptures on their own represent what it means “to befriend another.” Each clay sculpture is made of two parts: a spherical pot and an object that, depending on the specific sculpture, is configured in different shapes. The choice to have two sculptures represents some kind of companionship. The pot is a companion to the sculpture. The variation in the shape of the sculptures and where the pot sits relative to the sculpture suggests that friendship can take many forms. The position of the pot may also suggest that, depending on the sculpture, the pot and sculpture are in different phases of their friendship. For example, a pot that is distanced from the sculpture may be “finding” this friend whereas a pot that is sitting within a sculpture may be in the phase of “sustaining” friendship.

On the wall behind the sculptures are a series of abstract paintings. The paintings, on their own, represent what it means “to befriend all of the unseeable parts of ourselves.” The paintings are made up of a series of amorphous shapes and in each painting, those various configurations interact with each other differently. Every shape within each painting, however, is united in some way with each other, as though the image represents a person attempting to get to know and unify every part of themselves. The parts are “unseeable” in that the viewer is unable to understand what exactly these fragments represent. For example, one painting depicts lines from all the shapes and colors meeting at one single focal point. The painting has many facets, whether that be different shapes or varying colors, yet they are all connected at this one point. Another painting depicts a brown circle-like shape surrounding many smaller, multicolored circular shapes. Perhaps the outer brown circle could represent a person, and the smaller shapes within the brown circle are the “unseeable parts.” The brown circle completely encloses the smaller figures, suggesting that the brown figure has befriended all the smaller forms. 

The sculptures and paintings together represent what it means “to befriend the world in all of its beauty and complexity.” Each painting and its corresponding sculpture go together beautifully: their colors complement each other and the painting seems to enclose the sculpture like a warm embrace. Sometimes a sculpture accompanies two sets of paintings that are quite distinct from each other, yet the sculpture seems to fit in perfect agreement with both of them, implying that a diverse array of friendships can coexist, a complexity in the idea of friendship. When looking at the exhibit at large, the earthy tones of every component of the artwork, the varying shapes depicted in each painting and sculpture, and the beautiful harmony of every painting and sculpture are a representation of the complex underlying union of the diversity in our world.

Ella Coffin