Tino Ward: Phosphenes

6:00 p.m.

Mildred Hawn Gallery - Jake and Nancy Hamon Arts Library

FREE

Tino Ward, SMU MFA graduate (2020), will exhibit a suite of paper pulp paintings depicting symbols from anthropologist Genevieve von Petzinger’s catalog of proto-linguistic signs found in ancient cave paintings, known as “phosphenes.” This term also refers to the impressions of light one sees in darkness, when the eyes are closed, or are generated by different means of stimulation, such as rubbing the eyes, migraine headaches, or hallucinogens. In this exhibition, the artist explores the emergence of phosphenes from the physiological realm to the artistic. Ward states, “there's a fascinating and powerful correlation between these naturally-occurring dots and squiggles we see in the dark, under stress, or when rubbing our eyes, and the ancient dots and squiggles and signs found painted in caves around the world for tens of thousands of years.”