Howard Payne University is exhibiting “Whole,” the sculptures of David Hill, through Friday, December 2, in the Dorothy and Wendell Mayes Art Gallery inside HPU’s Doakie Day Art Center. Gallery hours are Mondays and Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and Fridays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“David’s ceramic works in this exhibition are very sophisticated,” said David Harmon, professor of art and chair of HPU’s Department of Art. “They speak of our human condition as broken vessels, a metaphor of human pain and suffering in need of Christ’s healing which makes us whole.”
Hill was born in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, and raised by missionaries. His artwork focuses on and is inspired by his Christian faith. In 2005, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Shorter University in Rome, Georgia, and, in 2010, a Master of Fine Arts degree from Clemson University in Clemson, South Carolina. Before going to graduate school, Hill worked as a production potter at The Mark of the Potter, a pottery store in the mountains of northern Georgia. As a result of his studies and work experience, he was able to gain an expertise in a wide range of ceramic and sculptural methods.
Hill has exhibited nationally and internationally, at events such as the Workhouse Clay National 2011 Juried Exhibition at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia, as well as the Medalta International Cup Show 2013 in Alberta, Canada. He currently serves as assistant professor of art at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton.
Hand-built ceramic coiling technique is present in Hill’s sculptural works, said Harmon, with themes of ancient and contemporary martyrs such as Jim Elliot and Nathan Dabak.
“The holes we see in the sculpture can be made ‘Whole,’ hence the title of this exhibition,” Harmon said.
The Doakie Day Art Center is located on the HPU campus, on Center Avenue, near Lipscomb Street in Brownwood. For more information about the exhibition, contact David Harmon at (325) 649-8088 or dharmon@hputx.edu.
