Fraction of Time | Featuring Artists Steve Hurst and Byron Myrick
June 18 at 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Free
This exhibition showcases the two- and three-dimensional fine and functional art of clocks, plates, vases, and more, created by artists Steve Hurst and Byron Myrick.
Presented with support from Forrest County and the Montague Fund for the Arts
About Steve Hurst
Born in 1952 with the monicker Winthrop Steven Hurst, Steve grew up in Ida B. Wells housing projects in Chicago, a low-rise, beautiful, sprawling, safe community. After high school, he pursued a career as a saxophonist and singer. Tired of living on the road and not making money, he moved to New York at 21 and studied graphic design, photography, and fine art at the School of Visual Arts. In 1978, he started freelancing in New York City. His graphic design career led him to Boston, Westchester County, New York, Cleveland, and California for twenty-four years.
He started making clocks after the 1991 recession hit New York. His clients weren’t paying him, so he made clocks to pay the bills. The first show at his home yielded $1,800 in two days ($4,246 today). That money facilitated his move to Cleveland, which had experienced its recession some years prior. He’s had one-man shows in Illinois, Boston, New York, Cleveland, and California, exhibiting paintings, illustrations, and later, clocks. He has sold over 1,000 clocks since 1990. Owners include his first cousin, Oprah Winfrey (a gift), and Magic Johnson (a gift from the city of Richmond, California). Another custom clock was commissioned by Richmond as a gift to its sister city, Shimada, Japan, where it resides in City Hall. He moved from California to Hattiesburg in 2022.
His latest clocks are made from retired drum cymbals, some with hundreds of holes drilled, revealing twinkling or color-changing lights as in a starry night sky. He creates landscapes from real rust that he forms from iron particles. The effects are mesmerizing and very soothing. He uses whatever happens to be lying around, or what people give him, and states that his purpose is not just to make clocks with the intention of selling, but to make clocks that make statements, and that people establish a spiritual connection with.
“As an artist, I wish people would realize the impact that artists have on everything. You cannot look anywhere and not see something that an artist of some discipline created—your clothes, shoes, eyeglasses, furnishings, cars, parks, buildings, houses, furniture, advertisements, commercials, credit cards, currency, websites. Artists design packaging that makes people choose one product over another, even though the contents are the same. Everything you see and use every day was designed by an artist. We don’t just make pretty pictures. It makes me proud to be one.”
“As for what my plans are for the future, well, at almost 74 years old, I want to complete my book, complete a series of illustrations and paintings depicting snapshots of my life, and share on social media episodes of my life as an African American in a very racist society. It’s been one helluva ride.”
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About Byron Myrick
Byron Myrick’s work in this exhibit is from a series called “Quilted.” The series is influenced from two directions. The first is a fascination with reconstructive archaeological findings of vessels seen in museums. The second is the quilt, a part of the Southern heritage constructed from many parts to make a whole, as functional as well as a decorative object.
The works are thrown on the potter’s wheel as well as hand-built. The work is then bisque-fired and carefully broken.
“I never know how this is going to turn out. Then I lay out the shards and assign color, pattern, texture and marks to each piece. The shards are then glazed and fired using a technique called Raku or post-firing reduction. This technique further enhances the surface and colors of the shards. The piece is then put back together using a strong epoxy. The results are vessels that are unique in appearance.”
Byron received his master’s in Art Education at the University of Southern Mississippi. Byron Myrick spent the next 34 years as a Professor of Art at Jones County Junior College. While serving as President of the Mississippi Art Colony and a fellow member of the Mississippi Craftsmen’s Guild, Byron spends most of his time working and creating new works in his Moselle, Mississippi studio.