Our theme for February is LAYERS. It was chosen by our Lausanne chapter in Switzerland and illustrated by Catherine Olivia Pearson.

Simplicity provides clarity, but layers give our work a richer complexity and depth.

Musicians fuse melodies, harmonies, and rhythms to create more dynamic compositions. While other artists use a juxtaposition of colors, textures, images or materials for greater visual impact. The creative magic happens when those choices conjure different interpretations and emotions.

Because people have layers too. Just like a collage is created by overlapping layers of found materials, we pile up experiences that form our beliefs and reactions.

The cliché “beauty is only skin deep” means that a pleasant appearance does not guarantee a virtuous character. We are a mess of competing emotions and personality traits. So how we act to the outside world doesn’t always reflect how we feel inside. We make polite chit chat when it takes vulnerable conversations to form meaningful connections.

Surface level pleasantries and superficial decoration have their place. But it is the layers that give life meaning. We must peel them away to discover our deeper truths.

About the speaker:

Artist Sherrill Roland was born in 1984 in Asheville, North Carolina. In 2009, he received a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. In 2013, while Sherrill Roland was a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, he was wrongfully accused of four felonies. Before an indictment was reached, he finished his first year of grad school. After nine months, the four felony charges were dropped to four misdemeanor charges. This caused Roland’s case to be presented only in front of a judge, rather than with a jury as well. He was deemed guilty and served 10 months and two weeks at the D.C. Central Detention Facility. During that time, Roland missed the birth of his daughter and the passing of his grandmothers.

Though Roland’s art is not primarily religious, Roland is open about the fact that prayer and reading the Bible were things that helped him get by. While in prison, Roland initially struggled with the concept of innocence. He believed that he was different from the other men serving time at the D.C. Central Detention Facility. Through his conversations with the men there, and through religion, he came to realize that he is not as innocent as he believed and that no man is perfect; Roland recognized the judgements he had made about those who are incarcerated.

In 2016, his conviction was exonerated. Upon initially returning to North Carolina, Roland considered a career change and didn’t want to continue with art school. Roland found that being in jail had left him paranoid and distrusting of others. After talking to his professors about his transition period and his doubts about art, he realized that he can use art as a means of self-reflection and to bring his experiences incarcerated to light. For his Master’s in Fine Arts thesis project, Roland wore an orange jumpsuit everyday on campus. During this performance art project, he documented his interactions and encounters with both peers and campus faculty. Roland created guidelines to follow for his thesis project that mimicked the rules he had to obey in prison. He thought of his studio space as his cell, and the art building as the block. When walking to and from places on campus, Roland couldn’t stop and talk to people, or else he had to go back to his “block.” Over time, students and faculty at the University began responding to Roland; having conversations with him about his time incarcerated as well as sharing their own stories of loved ones who had been in the system. Roland also kept note of how people acted when seeing him in the orange jumpsuit, which included stares, side-eyes, and even people running away from him.

In 2017, Roland received a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. To conclude his art education, in 2018, Roland attended an art residency at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Skowhegan, Maine.