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Rights, Radicals, and Revolutions: Opening Night

The night was a success! The turn-out was great, and the conversation was enthralling!  What was really great about this exhibition was that many questions pertaining to the theme were addressed in very creative, but different ways! An example is the installation piece of the multicolored flag, called Disappearing Dissidents, by Hague Williams, 1st year Art Education MAT student (which is shown below).  He describes in his artist statement that…

Transformation and the catalysts that precipitate over time are primary sources of motivation for my work. The mechanisms of visual persuasion, such as flags, logos, and emblems: referencing anthems, rituals, and other social-bonding experiences as seen through individual histories, become the organizing principles for my work.

 

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Another work of art in the R3 Exhibition is Tara Morin’s A New Dawn, 2nd year Art Education MAT student (shown below). In this work of art, I find the composition’s graphic, bold, centering of a familiar politician with radiant lines coming from the center, as an eye-catching piece. I think the piece reflects what she is trying to accomplish in this work by pointing out the, “often ridiculous expectations we place on newly appointed politicians.”

Will they be our saving grace?

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What I also find interesting about this particular art exhibition is that there is such a diverse subject matter that is addressed.  Some pieces are bold like Hague Williams’ and Tara Morin’s, and then there are pieces such as Ashely Saunders (1st year Art Ed MAT) and Todd Geubse (1st year Elementary Ed MAT).  In both works, Saunders’ a painting and Geubse’s a sculpture, they are simple images of people that have a unique display of material that describes their intentions in a subtle way.

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I am drawn to these particular pieces shown above and below because my own particular style of creating art deals with the materials guiding my subject matter or intent in my own personal work.

As a result, in Geubse’s sculpture I feel a strong connection between the subject matter of the work and the materials he used to create it.  In Geubse’s sculpture, I find myself drawn to the gold leaf on the hands of the nude woman who appears to be posing much like a model in magazines. With very little known on the artist’s intent, I am left to ponder the artist’s intentions.  Which leads me personally to the ideals that we place on the woman’s body and how society works hard to maintain this ideal.

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Lastly, above is my personal mixed medium work, called Double Extend.  When I work with various materials, to create a collage, I enjoy that the materials speak for themselves and interact with each other.  What I mean by this is that in some ways, when I am developing and creating the work, I find myself making connections between two materials or more.  As a result, I hope that the mixed medium of materials I use and the context that I place them in creates an internal conversation between the materials or the purpose to the viewer.

In this particular piece, “DOUBLE EXTEND,” my materials were strictly make-up products, such as MASCARA, eye shadow, eye-liner, concealer, and make-up removers.  The subject matter of this particular piece, the rabbit in a field, is directly related to information that I have recently found out.  The make-up I was using was tested on animals before it hit the shelves of stores.  In my work, I wanted the piece to have an ideal beauty that make-up products are trying to sell.  Therefore, the environment that the rabbit in my work inhabits is man made, made out of man-made products, and appears serene.  The rabbit herself is made from a make-up remover, something that takes make-up off and is then thrown away.  In addition, the rabbit has fake, unrealistic eye lashes to show how Double Extend Mascara is supposed to make eye lashes grow long and beautiful.  In this work, I hope to test the viewer’s thoughts on beauty in mass media, how the products we use are being tested, and voice the rights of animals.

 

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Please feel free to stop by the R3 Exhibition that Runs through December 14th!

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33 E. Congress, Graduate Lounge Room 404

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