College Hosts “Making Connections Where There Are None” Exhibit by Jim Daniels

Hesston College presents “Making Connections Where There Are None,” an exhibit of mixed-media works by artist Jim Daniels exploring the ways personal history, memory and cultural artifacts intersect to shape narratives of identity and meaning. The exhibit is open now through October 29 in the Regier-Friesen Gallery in Hesston College’s Laban Peachey Center. On October 15, Hesston College is set to celebrate Daniels and his work with an artist reception from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

The pieces in this exhibit draw from his grandmother’s collection of National Geographic magazines, a source that sparked his curiosity as a child and later became a foundation for this body of work. By layering photography, collage and abstract mark-making, Daniels reconstructs stories and creates unexpected relationships between images that were never intended.

“Our reality is what we make it,” Daniels explains. “My role as an artist for this collection fluctuated between that of historian and author. I was making connections where there were none in an attempt at crafting a new narrative.”

The artist’s process carries echoes of anthropology, archaeology and philosophy, all disciplines concerned with uncovering meaning from fragments of information. What began as a childhood fascination with faraway places evolved into a studio practice rooted in excavation and reassembly. Each artwork becomes an open-ended question, encouraging viewers to consider how stories emerge when disparate elements are brought together.

Daniels received his Master of Fine Arts from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. He teaches drawing and painting at Whitfield School while maintaining his own studio practice. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including collaborations with interior design firms in Denver, Colo., and exhibitions in Berlin, Germany. Daniels resides in St. Louis with his wife, two children and their dog.

The “Making Connections Where There Are None” exhibit is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Photo caption:
“Now in my Forties” (left) - by Jim Daniels explores memory, identity and the layering of lived experience. By overlaying grid lines, painted shapes and luminous textures, Daniels invites viewers to reflect on the ways time reframes both personal history and self-perception.
In “Look What Washed Up,” Jim Daniels engages with themes of discovery and decay. The piece evokes the remnants left behind — objects, memories and stories — that wash ashore in the aftermath of time and tide.