112 E 11th . Hays, Kansas . 785-625-7522
The exhibit
Exhibit Description
The Hays Arts Council is proud to present Fields & Forms, a dual exhibition that brings together two distinct artistic voices within a shared space. Through intentional curation, the exhibition invites viewers to encounter common themes expressed through contrasting styles, materials, and approaches to storytelling.
While each artist’s work stands independently, subtle connections echo across the gallery in color, rhythm, structure, and gesture. By placing these works in conversation with one another, Fields & Forms encourages viewers to explore contrast and connection; of fields both literal and conceptual, and of forms that shape how we see, interpret, and relate. Visitors are invited to slow down, draw comparisons, and engage in dialogue sparked by difference as much as similarity.
In addition to individual works, the exhibition includes three collaborative pieces created by Amy and Brittany. We hope you enjoy the shared experience that is Fields & Forms.
Brittany Gorelick
"My work explores the lived experience of being Queer and Neurodivergent in a world built to accommodate neither experience. Through collage, papermaking, and traditional and experimental printmaking techniques, I use a set of predefined symbols to reject sanitized depictions of mental health and oppressive social structures.
the scribble symbolizes inner chaos
the grid reflects societal rigidity and neurotypical expectations
the waveform, drawn from an echocardiogram during a panic attack, disrupts order
Using fluorescent colors and plotter-cut marks, this body of work is both resistance and reflection. It is a disruption of an imposed definition of normalcy, and a reclamation of space through visual intensity and emotional authenticity.”
About the Artist
Brittany Gorelick received their MFA from Kent State University in Print Media and Photography and their BFA from the University of North Florida in Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking. Their work has been shown across the United States, including the Morgan Paper Conservatory and the Center for Contemporary Printmaking in CT. Internationally, she has been included in group shows both in Germany and Nicaragua. Brittany is currently Assistant Professor of Printmaking at Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, and Membership Engagement Chair for the Mid America Print Council.
Amy Warfield
“As a representative painter working in western Kansas, I experience both the internal and external pressures of forging work of visual interest from a terrain that offers little to the unfamiliar viewer. This landscape of inheritance and circumstance does not invite one to linger. I put this space at the center of my work, compelling new considerations and giving a begrudging love to an unlovable place. My practice is rooted in rendering and reconsidering the living texture, atmosphere, quirks and collective memory of the high plains. Pinning down scenes from life and land, my work is a meandering excursion of a landscape, a climate and a people.“
About the Artist
Amy Warfield is a visual artist working in Western Kansas whose work in oil and watercolor focuses on the landscape of her region. She puts the mundanity of her local landscape at the center of her work, forcing a second glance and new consideration. Amy has exhibited throughout the state, and her work is in private collections across the country, connecting to those who have gone away, returned or never left the plains.
Amy graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from Fort Hays State University and also holds an Associate of Arts from Garden City Community College. She currently resides in rural Ellis County with multiple cats, chickens, and unfinished projects.