Checkered 3-D prints and a shaded-in, human-killing robot were just a few of the “Pencil Man’s” artworks on display at Ball Hall’s Slocumb Galleries. From Oct. 12-16, the Department of Art & Design celebrated the life and works of Wyatt Moody, the late printmaking artist known as “Pencil Man,” who died on Feb. 7 of this year, at the young age of 22 years.

The event was formally titled “Kaleidoscopic Mind,” which means constant and continuous change in patterns, organizer Karlota Contreras-Koterbay said.

The title came from the recommendation of associate professor Mira Gerard, who knew Moody well and pulled the lyrics from his favorite song called “Porcelain,” by Moby.

“He was exploring different paradigms of the mind,” Koterbay said. “There are some surreal worlds that he had been exploring. It’s very psychological work.”

Koterbay, student workers in the art department and family members of the former ETSU student worked together to organize the five-day exhibition.

“I curated the show,” Koterbay said. “The gallery committee and the department agreed to give him a show.”

Originally, Moody was scheduled to present his Bachelor of Fine Arts exhibition last semester, she said. However, he asked her if he could instead display his show this fall.

But Moody, a senior at the time, died before his artwork would take center stage, said his mother, Judith Moody Rosenmeier. He was three months away from earning his B.F.A. in printmaking.

Rosenmeier, with the help of daughter Heather Cleary, was setting up food and drinks for guests to enjoy during a memorial reception they held at 5 p.m. on Monday, in the entrance of Slocumb Galleries.

“This is Wyatt’s celebration; his life as an artist,” Rosenmeier said. “His blood was art, and he has to say a lot.”

Cleary was standing next to her mother, looking around at all of the guests entering the gallery.

“For this show, the main thing we wanted to do was put on display all of the different types of works that he did,” Cleary said.

Most of the prints that were on display were for sale, they said.

The money will go toward a scholarship fund, in Moody’s name, to be given to a printmaking student at ETSU.

Other than benefiting future students’ education, Moody’s family members were exhibiting his pieces in hopes to spread his artwork among the public.

“We want everyone to enjoy his work,” Cleary said. “We want to sell his prints so his artwork is all around.”

Moody’s mother pointed at a self-portrait he drew and said that he is known as the “Pencil Man.” On the table next to his photo were stickers with the illustration of a man etched out of a pencil.

“Everything tells a story,” she said. “If you walk in any direction, you’ll get a story of his life, and how he cared about people of all types.”

Moody used to volunteer at the Crumley House in Limestone, Tenn., Rosenmeier said. He cared a lot about people with disabilities. “A lot of his pictures have wheelchairs because he saw them as regular people,” Rosenmeier said. “He had a strong love for people that nobody would recognize.”

It took the space of two gallery rooms and multiple display cases to showcase all of Moody’s artwork that the family brought to Slocumb Galleries.

His art was created through many mediums: print-making, portraits, sculptures, comics, multimedia.

Moody’s aunt, Susan Nicoletti, was standing near the entrance of Ball Hall greeting family, friends and faculty who were walking into the gallery.

“Wyatt will touch everyone’s life for the rest of his life, because of his artwork,” Nicoletti said. “He made everyone read inside his soul by reading his paintings and viewing his work.”

Moody’s former high school art teacher, Harvey Howell, was there to remember and admire the young artist’s work.

“To find a student in the high school level that had that kind of talent was very unique,” said Howell, who bought one of Moody’s pieces soon after he graduated from high school. “He was a very talented young man.”

The entire display took nine hours to set up, student worker Crista Megee said. She helped hang artwork on two of the gallery’s large walls, as well in a glass display.

Megee, a digital media major, was admiring Moody’s work.

“Some of it’s way over my head,” she said. “You have the hermaphrodite series, which are out there. Then the comic, over there, which deals with the Holocaust.”

Megee continued analyzing Moody’s artwork as she spun around to look at different walls of the gallery.

“But then I look at the picture of his girlfriend, and the self-portraits and you can see how gorgeous they are. They’re toned down; they’re softer,” Megee said. “He touched on almost every single subject.”

The artwork that was on display was just a portion of the work that Moody’s family brought to the gallery, Megee and Koterbay said. They had more than 100 pieces to choose from the day before the exhibit opened.

“It’s an inspiration to a lot of students,” Koterbay said. “There was a lot of faculty and students who really were distraught with him leaving early, and they would love to see his work because he was very prolific.”

Howell contributed to describing just how influential of an artist, and a person, Moody was.

“Seeing a young man like Wyatt progress and develop and enjoy it – that was a blessing to me,” he said. “That was the same thing as a paycheck.”

The retired high school teacher wished that future artists would model after Moody’s example.

“I would hope that his work would say, ‘not to be afraid; to try things that are really personal and really interesting, rather than prostitute yourself at the world of art that other people expect of you,'” Howell said.

“Eighty percent of the students in art class are going to do just enough to get by,” he said. “Wyatt did more than enough to please the class.”

He looked around the rooms and gazed admirably at Moody’s artwork.

“This is a testament of him, his personality and his influence on other people,” Howell continued. “This is probably one of the greatest supports that parents could possibly do.”

Professors Mira Gerard and David Dixon were standing across the room, discussing Moody’s creations.

“His work is really profound and beautiful,” Gerard said. “He was an amazing person, and an amazing artist. We’re going to remember him.

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