University student Michael Williamson enters the white-walled gallery space filled with colorful shapes and forms. He walks the length of the room, examining each piece of art, before returning to the center to gaze at a dark and monstrously large painting dominating the middle of the room.
The graphite forms appear to writhe upon the canvas – their almost-human qualities vying with shapes that are clearly neither man nor woman. They catch the eye for a moment before otherworldly clouds and tendrils grasp the eyes’ attention away.
“I love it,” Williamson said. “I absolutely adore it.”
The painting, entitled “Mass-Spore,” is part of a larger exhibit in the floor level gallery of Lawrence Hall. Three University art installation students are displaying their work. The unusual month-long, student-driven exhibition is the result of hundreds of hours of work on the part of the students.
University senior Zach Trow, master’s students Lorie Heagle and Chang-Ae Song joined together to independently fill a gallery usually reserved by professors for course-driven art projects. Entitled “View/Viewed,” the installation is composed of separate installation pieces by each artist.
The unifying theme of the three works is to challenge the viewer’s ideas of perception. And each artist approaches the theme in a different way.
Trow, a sculpture major, created an immersive sculpture installation that draws observers into the artistic space. In an attempt to explore the perception of value, he created a variety of replicas of luxury items that seemed at once realistic and clearly fake.
“I first started playing with the role of logos and how luxury items are found in visual advertisement,” Trow said. He modeled his sculptures after the two dimensional photos of Louis Vuitton products he found online.
His handbags, made out of wood and paint, are sliced in half. The open, unpainted wood is shown to the observer, while the realistic other side is reflected in mirrors to give the viewer a different perspective. Similarly, an unassuming black suit and purse stand to one side. It is quite difficult to realize the suit is completely made of steel and covered in a thick acetylene ash that looks like paint.
“I’ve always been interested in steel sculpture,” Trow said. “You are very involved with the piece of work.”
Heagle was similarly involved in her artwork, but in a different way. Heagle created a video installation that incorporated many different layers. Using projectors, she displays a film of herself laying in bed, restless in her sleep.
The artwork is intended to portray the complex thinking and layered experience that occurs at all times, but is particularly noticeable just before falling asleep, Heagle said.
Song’s large painting summons some of the darker thoughts in those late hours. Her painting is beautiful, but also somehow disturbing. The reason behind this becomes clear when it is understood where the source of the art comes from.
“The original source of the figure drawings I incorporate into landscapes comes from online newspaper photos of the Abu Ghraib detainees,” Song said. “One photograph in particular shocked me. It depicted naked figures climbing on top of one another in a pyramid. It was the most appalling and humiliating photo I’ve ever seen.”
The figures are the direct result of photocopies of the Abu Ghraib photos. As such, the painting contains a strong feeling of unease. The viewer initially sees something of a classic landscape painting, but closer inspection reveals humanistic figures wrapped into contortions.
The installation will remain on display until Oct. 3 at Lawrence Hall, home of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. Other art and sculpture is on display throughout the building on a rotating schedule during the academic year.
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