Gigi Stevenson, one of our EAC Interns, writes about Amy Sobin's Exhibition Sincerely, Earth: A Wagner Farm Series, displayed in our Second Floor Gallery from August 31 - September 29, 2024:
Sincerely, Earth: A Wagner Farm Series, a current Evanston Art Center exhibition, displays the talent of Amy Sobin, a multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker. Sobin’s accomplishments stretch far and wide as she has received her BFA from Miami University, curated her own shows, and shown her own work at Park Shrek Gallery and Mars Gallery in Chicago. More recently, she has been a part of two group shows at The Empty Corner in Arlington Heights, and now has demonstrated her talents at The Evanston Art Center in a solo show. Sobin’s pieces featured in the EAC are detailed pencil drawings and light art sculptures telling a story of life and love. Just as Sobin’s art tells a riveting story piece by piece, the process of creating her work is just as interesting a tale.
Sobin created every drawing outside for two months on Wagner Farm in Glenview, Illinois in the fields of corn and garden spaces. She was determined to finish one piece per day, starting at sun up and ending at sundown. Sobin’s dedication to her message and theme can be seen by how she used her environment to her advantage, such as rain on her paper in the piece titled Purple Cabbage with Rain, which is now one of her favorites.
One of the most breathtaking and outstanding components of Sincerely, Earth: A Wagner Farm Series is the multiple drawings depicting a singular onion. Alone, these pieces are disconnected and more simple, however, at the EAC the viewer gets the privilege of seeing the Onion series as Sobin intends it to be observed. The onion series lines the gallery wall starting with the piece titled, Hello! and ending with Keep in Touch. The series mimics the development of a relationship between two people, and as it progresses and the onion opens up, Sobin uses titles like, How are You?, You're Sweet, and I Love You. The layers of the onion peeling back are a metaphor for the walls people build to hold themselves back from others, but gradually let down as they develop relationships. After I Love You, the onion’s layers fold inward again in pieces titled, Miss You, Remember Me, and lastly Keep in Touch. The ever-changing nature of the onion reflects the overarching theme of Amy Sobin’s Sincerely, Earth: A Wagner Farm Series as she conveys varying emotions and human nature through the use of plants, her pencil, and paper.
View Sincerely, Earth: A Wagner Farm Series by Amy Sobin until September 29, 2024, in the Evanston Art Center’s second-floor gallery.