Join us for a reception and artist talk with New York-based multidisciplinary artist Meg Hitchcock, creator of The Sea, Parts I and II, currently on display in the Contemplative Commons First Floor Gallery! This event is free and open to the public.

3:30 pm - Art viewing in the Gallery (first floor)
4:00 pm - Artist talk, Q&A, and refreshments in the Alchemy (fourth floor)

Meg Hitchcock’s multidisciplinary practice spans painting, text-based art, three-dimensional work and writing, reflecting her lifelong interest in spirituality, psychology, and literature. Hitchcock’s “text drawings” transform language into a visual medium, made from letters individually cut from one literary or sacred text and meticulously arranged to form intricate compositions spelling passages from another, inviting meditation on the layered meanings of both texts.

In The Sea, Parts I and II, Hitchcock draws from two ancient, epic texts with references to the ocean to recreate two contemporary poems exploring reverence for nature, spiritual harmony, and the restorative flow of water, in the form of horizontal vistas of the sea. The left panel (Part I) uses letters cut from The Aeneid by Virgil to recreate Diane Ackerman’s poem “School Prayer,” while the right panel (Part II) draws from The Odyssey by Homer to transcribe Jennifer Reis' “In Praise of the Beauty of Water Within.” Viewed from a distance, the diptych suggests the vastness of the ocean, its waves and rhythms echoing the sea’s surface. As one approaches, the abstract forms dissolve into letters, periods, and commas—offering a deeper, more intimate view of the text that is present in the work. The passage of time is implied, as one contemplates the careful cutting and placing of each individual letter, period, and comma, through Hitchcock’s deeply meditative and repetitive creative practice. The resulting work reflects on the restorative power of water, contemplative ritual, and the connections between ancient and contemporary narratives.

Meg Hitchcock is a New York-based artist whose work has been recognized with significant awards and distinctions, including a 2024 Pollock-Krasner Grant and a 2023 Gottlieb Foundation Grant. She has exhibited across the U.S. and internationally at institutions including MASS MoCA, the Currier Museum of Art, the CODA Museum (Netherlands), Virginia MOCA, the Crystal Bridges Museum, where she was included in State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now, and Les Yeux du Monde gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia.