Share this story. 
|
ORU Art Instructor Showcases Knowledge
By Rebecca Gehle
| |
|
Thankfully, there are people out there who not only can explain and comprehend art, they also create it. Nathan Opp, assistant professor of art at ORU, is such a person. In addition to teaching studio classes and art history courses, Opp creates his own works that are showcased around the country. Opp's pieces were featured at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center all through March.
Classifying himself as a realist painter, Opp mostly paints still lifes and figures in oil. When creating still life paintings, Opp primarily paints fruits, vegetables and small objects of interest to him.
Opp's recent figure paintings are of people who are not interacting. "It's interesting to me how people choose to isolate themselves from others." Opp does not intend these paintings to say anything explicit about society. Instead, they are open-ended images, and viewers are able to interpret the paintings as they choose, drawing from their previous life experiences.
Opp doesn't intend for one painting to say everything so he normally paints under a cohesive theme. Opp does believe that his art reflects his faith: "My artworks are extensions of being a Christian." He explained that "studio work is a necessity; it completes me."
"Sometimes I don't know why I've made something, but then at a gallery someone will be touched by one of my artworks. I don't have to understand it at the time, why God is having me paint something, but I have to be obedient to Him."
Opp explained that his creations have evolved through the years, as a while ago his paintings were very symbolic. Now, viewers can enjoy his more complex pieces that utilize layers and demonstrate a wider variety of vibrant colors.
When Opp begins a piece of art, he has a good idea of what a painting might look like completed, but even so, it takes between three and eight months to finish, and he normally works on three or four canvases at a time. This amount of time and number of canvases allow for the works to be organic and grow out of the original vision. Already he is preparing for a solo show for August of 2007.
Opp believes that in addition to displaying his pieces, he must teach also, as a way to give back. "I see teaching as a responsibility to return or pass on the skills and training that were given to me. It is an act of appreciation."
While teaching, Opp strives to avoid making clones of himself in the classroom. He wants to cultivate students' individual talents by teaching to their needs.
For the many of us who are intimidated by art galleries, instructors like Nathan Opp not only make art understandable, they make a person feel as though it doesn't have to be understood a certain way. After all, who ever said art had to be narrow-minded?
