A Conceptual Theory through Digital Photographs
Ben Bailey Art Gallery
On View: Jan 27 – Feb 22, 2012
Reception and Artist Talk: Wed. Feb 1st, 6PM – 9PM
Talk Starts at 6:30 PM
Art gallery exhibit features look at human faces
Artist Nancy Moyer will explore the theory that all faces have three sides in her new art exhibit at the Ben Bailey Art Gallery at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. The exhibit, The Bicameral Face, begins Friday, Jan. 27, and continues through Wednesday, Feb. 22. An artist reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1, with Moyer speaking at 6:30 p.m.
“We are all aware of the asymmetry of the human face, but what causes it?” Moyer said. “I decided to explore a theory of brain function as it affects our face and discovered a fascinating approach to the portrait.
“With my Faces, I have created a series of portraits that I believe more accurately depict each individual than would the traditional single-image portrait. The visual effect of this complex mind structure is demonstrated through a variety of individuals who make many decisions on a daily basis,” she said.
Moyer said
The Bicameral Face shows the three true personas that existed at the time of the photograph including the Empirical merged face, or the person we see; the Commander, or the dominant side who receives and generates information and has cosmic connections; and the Facilitator, or the side that analyzes information and manifests it into a visible or public act.
“I discovered that the face is a dynamic organ. Depending on the person’s daily experience, the asymmetry may change,” she said. “I re-photographed several of the faces and they were different each time. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.
“With this exhibit, I identify some dual personalities, some inner conflicts and show the window of the brain through the facial windows of my subjects. I hope viewers will think about their own faces from this point of view and consider using this concept as a way towards a better understanding of themselves and those around them.”
About Nancy Moyer
Moyer is Professor Emerita of Art at University of Texas-Pan American. She was chair of the art department there for 17 years. She is currently chair of the McAllen Arts Council, art critic for the
McAllen Monitor and has served as managing editor of
Voices of Art magazine.
She has had 10 solo exhibitions and over 90 juried and group shows with mostly drawing and metal work.
Her most recent exhibits include
Jackrabbits! a collaborative public sculpture commission by the city of McAllen;
Chain Show, at the Blue Heron Gallery in Deer Isle, Maine; and the
Fifth Anniversary Exhibit at Galeria 409 in Brownsville.
Published jewelry works include
Defensive Ornament, by Schiffer Publishing Company, due out this spring;
Art Jewelry Today 2, Schiffer Publishing Company;
The Craft of Making Jewelry, Lark Books Press;
500 Brooches, Lark Books Press;
1000 Rings, Lark Books Press; and
Jewelry: Fundamentals of Metalsmithing by Tim McCreight, Brynmorgan Press.
Moyer’s metal work is included in the slide archives of the National Ornamental Metal Museum.
For more information, call 361-593-3401.
-TAMUK-
Artist’s Statement
According to Leopold Ballak, M.D., the face is the window of the brain. “The left side of the face, controlled by the right side of the brain, expresses feelings and passions more intensely than the right side. As a result the left side tends to record a deeper, perhaps more revealing pattern of emotions than the more easily controlled right side of the face.” (reverse for left handers).
It turns out that this describes the actions of Julian Jaynes theory, “The Bicameral Mind.” My interest is directed further toward the visual and physical effect the brain exerts on the face, and why. According to Julian Jaynes, the bicameral mind, which was an evolution of our early brain, identified a Master Control (right side). This side commanded; the other obeyed. The right side was able to tap into a variety of knowledge sources: its own active synapses, bioelectrical resources from within and without, the cosmic consciousness, etc. As logic (left side) evolved and offered a better way of social interacting, the bicameral master control mind with its vast bioelectrical resources de-evolved. It ultimately was seen as disruptive and primitive. We are left with two distinct brain hemispheres that don’t work together as well as they once did. The vestiges of its process has been seen as a gift, since, unlike the logical mind, the right side could often foretell the future, and warn of unseen dangers. Evolved down into the “intuitive” brain, it is our sixth sense. Although it has declined from a probable audible voice to a “hunch” or a “gut feeling,” it is still often identified as “the voice within.” Bucky Fuller identified the bicameral mind structure inadvertently with his Phantom Captain: the little person inside operating the controls.
• The Empirical merged face: the person we see;
• The Commander: the dominant side who receives and generates information and
• The Facilitator: who analyses information and manifests it into a visible, or public, act.
Or doesn’t, which forms an interesting conflicted face.
I also discovered that the face is a dynamic organ. Depending on the person’s daily experience, the asymmetry may change. I re-photographed several of the faces; they were different each time. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.
With this exhibit, I identify some dual personalities, some inner conflicts, and show the window of the brain through the facial windows of my subjects. I hope viewers will think about their own faces from this point of view, and consider using this concept as a way towards a better understanding of themselves and those around them.
Professor Emerita of Art, UTPA Chair of UTPA Art Department for 17 yrs
As an Art advocate, I am currently Chair of the McAllen Arts Council, Art Critic for the McAllen Monitor, and have served as Managing Editor of Voices of Art Magazine
Exhibitions:
• 10 solo exhibitions
• Over 90 juried and group shows; mostly drawings and metal works, work ing in the medium that
best expresses my current concept.
Most recent activities:
• Jackrabbits! Collaborative public sculpture commission, City of McAllen
• The Bicameral Face: IMAS, and Brownsville Museum of Fine Art
• Chain Show, Blue Heron Gallery, Deer Isle Maine
• 5th Anniversary Exhibit, Galeria 409, Brownsville
• Counterflux: Defensive Ornament, G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle Scheduled for 2012:
• Continuations: a Retrospective, Kika de la Garza Fine Arts Center, Mission Scheduled for 2013
• Multiple Exposures: Jewelry and Photography, Museum of Art and Design, New York; my work
has been selected for this curated exhibit scheduled for August 2013.
Published jewelry works include:
• Defensive Ornament, Schiffer Publishing Co – due out spring 2012
• Art Jewelry Today 2, Schiffer Publishing Co.,
• The Craft of Making Jewelry, Lark books Press, New York
• 500 Brooches, Lark Books Press, New York
• 1000 Rings, Lark Books Press, New York
• Jewelry: Fundamentals of Metalsmithing, by Tim McCreight. Brynmorgan Press
My metal work is included in the slide archives of the National Ornamental Metal Museum
p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 14.
“The relation between the reality of the physical world and the reality of the mind is what moves me to create,” Jaeger said. “Part of this motivation comes from life’s emotions and experiences resulting in metaphorical imagery that exemplifies an opposites’ interaction between human nature and geometry. This connection figure-geometry is primordial in my work.
“I begin organizing these ideas around the components I use to build my paintings like color-wooden blocks, human figures and faces, strings and some other objects, which unfold into the fusion of human and geometric explorations and its allegorical significances: comical, emotional, physical, spiritual, neutral,” she said. “This is the way I perceive life and existence, a permanent blend of good, bad and incomprehensible facts. This is the truth of life as I see it. My intention is to mock the palpable reality and its false sense of order, normalcy, security and stability.”
Jaeger lives and works in South Texas. Her work has been exhibited at different national and international venues, including the Museo Contemporaneo de Arte in Tamaulipas, Mexico; the Museum of Art and Sciences in McAllen; the Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts in Tallahassee; the Masur Museum of Art in Monroe, Louisiana; and in galleries in New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Universidad Rafael Urdaneta in Maracaibo, Venezuela and a master’s degree in studio painting from the University of Texas-Pan American.
In 2008, she was awarded a grant by the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture and in 2009 she received the Lenore Segan Award from the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation in New York City. Most recently, she has participated locally in the Texas Biennial and as a finalist on the Hunting Art Prize during the 2010, 2011 and 2012 competitions in Houston.
The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call 361-593-3401. 
