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Social Landscapes Gallery
Collaboration of painter Stephen Popadich and pianist/composer Charles Hulin exploring the constellation of social problems faced by the poor, specifically in Northeastern North Carolina
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Notes from Roanoke-Chowan Community College show
by Stephen Popadich
The work consists of two ideas: the landscape and the house.
These two ideas come to me as I view the environs of northeastern North Carolina.
When you look at the work, allow yourself to view each pile of a broken house as a vast entanglement of rifts and valleys - as if you were engulfed by the power of the Himalayan Mountains.
While the Himalayas were created through the shifting of tectonic plates, the broken houses that I am depicting are mountain-like testaments to the constructive and destructive duality of each home.
Traditionally, houses symbolize moral and personal maturation. However, these houses-in-shambles are piled high as antitheses of their original purposes. Instead of adding positively to society, the structures act more as the origins of irreparable damage to the community.
The duality of this melancholy view of shattered and disorganized homes juxtaposed with the vast, incommunicable grandeur of the mountains can permeate our own perspectives of houses becoming homes. Imagine passing by these piles each day and reflecting on how your own home is being nurtured or damaged.
How did these homes begin?
How were they destroyed?
All and all, I would like you to see the beauty within the piles while keeping an awareness of the homes they once housed. I cannot solve the problem of poverty, but I can start a conversation.
What you hear:
Dr. Hulin has recorded a series of improvisations that will be heard during the show. Each one musically represents homes and houses being constructed and destroyed. At the core of each of these improvisations is a passage intended to convey reasons for the destruction as outlined by the titles of the paintings.
Biography
Stephen Popadich completed his undergraduate work at Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, he has been living in Ahoskie, NC for the last three years where he is currently working as an art teacher at Hertford County High School.
Dr. Charles Hulin teaches piano and music history at Chowan University and is very grateful for the opportunity to participate in this project.
The work consists of two ideas: the landscape and the house.
These two ideas come to me as I view the environs of northeastern North Carolina.
When you look at the work, allow yourself to view each pile of a broken house as a vast entanglement of rifts and valleys - as if you were engulfed by the power of the Himalayan Mountains.
While the Himalayas were created through the shifting of tectonic plates, the broken houses that I am depicting are mountain-like testaments to the constructive and destructive duality of each home.
Traditionally, houses symbolize moral and personal maturation. However, these houses-in-shambles are piled high as antitheses of their original purposes. Instead of adding positively to society, the structures act more as the origins of irreparable damage to the community.
The duality of this melancholy view of shattered and disorganized homes juxtaposed with the vast, incommunicable grandeur of the mountains can permeate our own perspectives of houses becoming homes. Imagine passing by these piles each day and reflecting on how your own home is being nurtured or damaged.
How did these homes begin?
How were they destroyed?
All and all, I would like you to see the beauty within the piles while keeping an awareness of the homes they once housed. I cannot solve the problem of poverty, but I can start a conversation.
What you hear:
Dr. Hulin has recorded a series of improvisations that will be heard during the show. Each one musically represents homes and houses being constructed and destroyed. At the core of each of these improvisations is a passage intended to convey reasons for the destruction as outlined by the titles of the paintings.
Biography
Stephen Popadich completed his undergraduate work at Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, he has been living in Ahoskie, NC for the last three years where he is currently working as an art teacher at Hertford County High School.
Dr. Charles Hulin teaches piano and music history at Chowan University and is very grateful for the opportunity to participate in this project.
Charles Hulin and Stephen Popadich