UNM painter Juliet Wing says that the title for her new exhibition, "Tale of an Eternity," came directly out of a dream she had. That particular dream has played a substantial role in the development of Wing's autobiographical artwork over the past year and a half.
The exhibition is about the eternal cycles of generations, and the timelessness of feeling and experience.
"No story is really your own," Wing said. "Every feeling has already been felt throughout all generations, since the beginning of time. The title is about my own eternity, all I've known of life to this point."
"Tale of an Eternity" will be hanging at the Blue Dragon Coffeehouse from now until July 28. The 24-piece show is a mixture of oil paintings, photographs and prints that deal primarily with personal and familial relationships Wing has experienced throughout her life.
She explained that the show is about fusing together the developments of her childhood and her process of growing up.
"Suddenly I am an adult, and everything that came before this has become so precious," Wing said. "Growing up is what shapes you into who you are, but until you can go back and piece it all together, your life remains unsolved."
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Wing explores different aspects of these ideas through her strikingly stylized portraits, such as "I Still Can't Save You," which features a young Wing and her niece. An ominous shadow charges the painting with emotion. Her work evokes a naturally profound narrative and her method of painting is particularly dramatic.
"People tend to be drawn to the faces," Wing said. "(In them) I try to communicate the way I feel and the way I imagine the people who I am painting see the world."
Wing's style has been compared to Alice Neel and the German expressionist Egon Schiele. She has previously studied painting in Florida and Boston and is preparing to enter her third semester at UNM as a fifth-year senior.
When asked about plans for the future, Wing said she intends to continue on the path she is on, but wants to expand her art into subjects besides herself - into the realms of other people's lives.
"I want to put myself inside someone else's experiences, like an old person who's lived through many different things," Wing said.
She also would like to integrate more forms of two-dimensional media and is considering schools in Los Angeles to obtain her master's degree.
Wing hopes that people take their own memories from "Tale of an Eternity," continuing the cycle of timeless experience.
There will be an opening reception for the show on Saturday, July 13 at 8 p.m. at The Blue Dragon, 1517 Girard Blvd. N.E.
