The Artist - Trevor Southey
Trevor Southey is a native of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Africa, born in 1940 of immigrant European ancestry. His interest in art developed at an early age when rheumatic fever confined him to bed for months at a time, and often, his only companions were a pen, pencil, and paper.
Southey attended art schools in England and South Africa before coming to the United States in 1965 to attend Brigham Young University (BYU). After receiving his degrees, he joined the BYU art faculty. While teaching there, he became a founding member of the highly significant Mormon Art and Belief Movement (1966-1978). Southey personally worked to establish a "Mormon Art" form through his use of Latter-day Saint subject matter. In 1977, he decided to dedicate his full energies to an art career, resigned from the faculty at BYU and, in 1982, established a studio in Salt Lake City.
An Academic-Realist, figurative artist, Southey, like the Renaissance painters, uses the physical body to portray the soul. Rather than merely depicting the figure, he unconsciously evokes the spirituality of the human form through his use of other-worldly, everyman figures, combining realism with personal allegorical content. Talking about his art and his life, Southey says,
There is a strange element of surprise in suddenly finding oneself middle aged, and internalizing the fact that one is perceived as an artist. There was not really any other natural thing for me to do with my life. . . . Certainly, the direction of my work was never planned. It is rooted simply in my being and my personal history. . . . Some artists are a little shy about such introspection; I rather like the inquiry, enjoying especially the increased perspective which others bring to the work. But I have become less and less sure of the answers. . . . I used to work more with answers; things as they should be tended to dominate my work. . . . I think my work these days is more inclined to ask questions.
In 1983, Southey moved to San Francisco, where his work found critical and popular success. During the 1990s he commuted between San Francisco and Utah, working in both states. Over the past two decades he has become proficient in sculpture and printmaking as well as in painting.
The Art
TREVOR JACK THOMAS SOUTHEY (1940- ) Alpine
New Bloom, 1977
etching, 16-1/4" x 22-1/2" (41.3 x 57.0 cm)
Gift from Ellie Sonntage, Salt Lake City 1990.060
This intaglio print was made using the etching technique. Etchings are made by drawing with a sharp tool on a metal plate that has been covered with asphaltum, a black, sticky substance that resists acid. The tool creates the drawing by exposing areas of the metal plate. The plate is then bathed in acid, which bites into the exposed parts of the metal and creates depressed lines where the drawing was. The plate is then cleaned of asphaltum, inked, and printed under heavy pressure. The original drawing now appears as the printed image.
This particular artwork began as a representational pencil drawing of a woman Southey knew from his church. For Southey, the experience of creating the image led to thoughts of death, resurrection, the cycle of life, and of moving to a new stage of life. In the final artwork, the woman became more a universal symbol than a depiction of a particular person.
This print was part of a series of prints with the individual elements used in different places and in different combinations. The delicate elegance of Southey's draftsmanship suits the ideas he was exploring. Although New Bloom is not typical of his work, Trevor feels this particular print is one of his most successful pieces. He says the print is like a walk down a country lane, and he believes it successfully communicates his intended message.
Concepts
Visual Art Core Curriculum - Utah State Office of Education
Under the Standard of Making, this print can help the student:
- identify the media (materials and supplies) that are necessary to complete this print. (Metal or plastic printing plate, etching tools or chemicals, ink, brayer, print paper, rags or toweling, and printing press.)
- identify the individual techniques that make up the print process. (Probably an original sketch is transferred onto the printing plate, the design is etched with tools and/or chemicals onto the printing plate, the print paper is prepared, the plate is inked, the plate is registered (aligned) with the paper, the print is run through the press, the print is "pulled" off the plate, the print is dried and the edition is numbered and signed.)
- discuss the unique aspects of prints. (Duplicate copies or an edition can be made from one plate, printing is a process that requires several steps or stages, most prints are the reverse of the image that is on the plate.)
Under the Standard of Perceiving, this print can help the student:
- identify elements and characteristics that his/her art may share with this print.
- use line to create a drawing of a person or object.
- use a varying density of lines to create value.
- observe proportions by comparing the size of the woman in the print with the size of the rose.
Under the Standard of Expressing, this print can help the student:
- identify how artists express feelings or mood through the use of line, repetition, or shape. Strategy example: What is the mood expressed in this print? How do elements such as line or the lack of color contribute to the creation of mood in this etching?
- show how various symbols in the print help convey its story (idea or meaning). Strategy example: What does the rose symbolize in this print? How does it contribute to the idea or meaning of the print?
Under the Standard of Contextualizing, this print can help the student:
- discover cultures by looking at art. Strategy example: Where do you think this woman is from? What age do you think she is? What is she doing? What is she wearing? What does this imply about where she is from and her age?
- describe how an understanding of science concepts helps one to create art (such as prints) and how a knowledge of how to create art helps one to understand science concepts. Strategy example: Discuss with the class how acid affects metal when applied to its surface, and how asphaltum protects metal from the effects of acid. Explain how the printing process is a practical example of how this knowledge can be used.
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