Darker, ever darker; Deeper, always deeper is a solo exhibit of Tim Whiten’ s work spanning four decades of his artistic career. The exhibit features a diverse collection of sculptures and works on paper made from skulls, glass, mud, fabric, wood, metal, leather, stone and natural liquids. Shown in the Meridian gallery, the show occupies all three levels of the gallery, beckoning the viewer to physically and psychically ascend towards the work. Whiten’ s art is intensely personal and deeply concerned with representations of spirituality.

One of his most personal pieces Permeating Sign (2006), is a memorial piece to Whiten’ s mother, Mary Glaze Whiten. It is a rolling pin cast in glass and emblazed with mystic numbers derived from her date of birth. It is Whiten’s way to commemorate his parents’ love and relationship. Whiten’ s father courted his wife by carving her a rolling pin to symbolize the creation of their home, and also their mutual responsibilities for it. All his work intricately deals with the human condition and interconnectivity of the body, the spirit and the earth. The pieces Enigmata (No. 11) and Enigmata with Rose (no. 4) from 1994-98 are made of used hospital sheets and dyed with coffee to resemble shadowy figures surrounded by fragmented lines reminiscent of bone. These pieces and the materials used for them carry the weight of human vulnerability and the invisible chain connecting hundreds of people who experience the perils of the body, death and life. The artist expresses this connection in a ritual-like concentration on the process of creation, often using performance as part of his process.

Every single piece in this exhibit is a powerful representation of the artist’s very being. Strangely, the exhibition fails to form a cohesive reflection of the artists practice. each other. Though sections of work are organized by a formal logic, individual groupings of work lack chemistry. Instead, each piece tries to stand on its own communicating the spirit of Tim Whiten.

(Images courtesy of Meridian Gallery)