Stephen Hawks: At the Threshold of Consciousness

From the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art:

“Artist Statement:
Recently I have been doing a series of drawings using colored pencils. This is not new to my overall practice. Sincechildhood, I have done paintings, drawings, and collage right along with my 3D practice. These drawings contain both figurative elements, as well as non-objective and abstracted elements, the unifying theme being my relationship and use of color as an integrative spiritual experience. These drawings, done since August of 2020, I call my “Insomnia Drawings”, having mostly been donelate at night when I have trouble sleeping. They are often improvisational and altogether have the characteristic of collaborative creation with unseenworlds, manifesting inner and outer consciousness. Some of these works are also finding their way into my ceramic practice with the decal prints, color alsobeing a unifying force between 2D and 3D.
In addition, I have done some complex expressionistic totemic works that figure prominently in this exhibit. The idea for the Installation, Elegy for the American Dream, which is the last in a long series of totemic works incorporating the four Seraphim, has been with me for several decades. The Seraphim are also known as the four evangels at the level of human group souls, related to the four gospels in Christian iconography. The arrangement as a totem was suggested to me by a drawing ofRudolf Steiner.. I have often returned to the idea and was finally able to dedicate time to creating this work, the kernel of which came to me in a dream.I have pondered over it ever since and drawn images of it for years, trying to piece together its meaning(s). The current amalgamation is a composite, partly from the dream and partly from my interpretations.

BIOGRAPHY:
Stephen Hawks, MFA Lecturer III
UTRGV, School ofArt and Design
StephenHawks, born in Washington D. C., has lived most of his life in Georgia. He has training in art, music, and theater, an AA in theater from South Georgia College, a BFA from Valdosta State University, and an Interdisciplinary MFA, with a concentration in ceramics from Florida State University, with additional coursework in art education from Columbus State University. He was ResidentPotter at Westville living history museum for 19 years and an independent artist for over 35 years. He is married with two grown Daughters. He came to Brownsville Texas in the fall of 2012 to teach at UTB, courses in Ceramics, Graduate Art Ed, Art History, 3D Design, and Art Appreciation. Currently, he oversees the Ceramics Program and teaches Ceramics and Foundations in the School of Art and Design at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on the Brownsville Campus. Stephen Hawks is also a poet and musician. He invites collaboration across disciplines and supports this in his art and educational practice.”