Student artist Jacob Wilson’s first solo exhibition, “Family Gathering”, invites viewers to consider family structure through photography, video installation and found-object sculpture.
After receiving an invitation to host their exhibit in the Student Union Building Fine Arts Gallery, Wilson spent the summer solidifying sculptural elements and capturing additional photographs for the body of work.
“When I first viewed Jacob’s proposal, what stood out to me the most was the approachability of their art and how a variety of gallery viewers can see themselves and their childhood memories reflected in the pieces,” Curatorial Assistant Kat Watson said.
Working closely with Watson and Art Curator and Collections Manager Fonda Portales, Wilson visualized the floor plan of the exhibition to evoke the feeling of a home. Upon entering the exhibit, viewers immediately notice ‘L’ shaped walls, mimicking hallways.
“I spent a lot of time trying to be conscious of the space and its capabilities, while also thinking about the context of each piece and how I wanted it to be viewed,” Wilson said. “I wanted to place this exhibition in more of a family context. Even though I’m not wallpapering the walls, I wanted the layout to feel slightly familial, like a house.”
The far-left wall of the exhibition greets viewers with “Family Portrait”, a black-and-white photographic series composed of archival photos from Wilson’s youth paired with modern film images of plant structures found in Idaho parks.
Inspired by the emotiveness of nature, the series compares subtle parallels between plant and family structures, highlighting how each supports the other’s growth, “for better or for worse”.
In one pairing, Wilson and their siblings wrap their arms around their father’s neck as he gazes into the camera. Mirroring the image is a photograph of an isolated thistle plant, a single strong stem intertwined with smaller ones.
“I was really interested in this idea that family isn’t a social concept, but rather a worldly concept,” Wilson said. “Making that connection through connective visuals and the parallels that we can see in plant structures — the way they group and support each other in the same way we do within family structures.”
On the opposite wall hangs a wide shot of the view of Wilson’s grandmother’s backyard, bathed in soft dusk light.
“I picked the back of the house because I think it’s very grounded. It’s intimate, in a sense,” Wilson said. “Anybody could look at the front of the house, but not everyone gets the opportunity to see the backyard. It innately felt like childhood.”
During a May trip to visit family in California, Wilson documented spaces that shaped their upbringing — many of which appear throughout the exhibition.
“I have a complex relationship with my family, so sometimes I find it is best for me to process that through my art,” Wilson continued. “As a queer individual, I think our histories are often underrepresented or erased at times. Centering my work around this idea of historical documentation is really important to me.”
At the center of the exhibition, surrounded by white walls, a video installation titled “Recollection Nonlinear” is projected onto a three-by-three grid of air filters stained with acrylic paint.
Designed to look and smell as though they had been smoked in, the piece is an ode to Wilson’s grandmother, a longtime smoker.
The projection combines archival family footage with audio from a phone call between Wilson and their grandmother. Throughout the eight-minute video, she recounts stories and fond memories from Wilson’s childhood. The piece explores memory recall through scent, with a faint cigarette smell that grows stronger as the viewer moves closer to the piece.
“I feel so strongly attached [to this piece], especially as my grandmother is getting older. It is something so deeply personal that I feel very comfortable displaying,” Wilson said. “I have it centered in the exhibition, so everything kind of leads to it, like a hallway.”
Wilson credited Professor and Art Foundations Coordinator Laurie Blakeslee as a mentor in preparing for the exhibition.
It’s really wonderful,” Blakeslee said of “Recollection Nonlinear”, noting that Wilson would often stop by her office to bounce ideas around during the creative process. “Jacob continually experiments and challenges themself in their art.”
The heart of the exhibition is Wilson’s sculptural works, “Trace Evidence” and “On the Mend”.
Through a sanded wooden chair and a dismantled foldable chair, Wilson represents tumultuous relationships with their father and brother while exploring the complexities of gender identity within the American nuclear family.
“I took these [chairs] and altered the meaning behind them through additive and subtractive processes like carving, drawing and pastel work,” Wilson said. “I was interested in exploring the idea of chairs in the connotation of a family dinner setting — the ways that we all have a place at the table and how that correlates to our relationships with other people at the table.”
“Family Gathering” will be exhibited in the Student Union Building Fine Arts Gallery until Dec. 21.
“I’ve been working for months to see this come to fruition, so to see it all up was a really emotional process for me,” Wilson said. “I feel accomplished in this moment, and I’m very proud of myself for being able to execute something at this scale in my third year.”
