by Katrina Perez
Visiting mixed art shows fills me with many thoughts. For one it’s hard to judge the art altogether. After all, one work of art does not seem to have much to do with the other. That aside I still appreciate this show. The ‘Faculty Art Show’ at Valdosta State University consisted of a lot of 2d works and a few 3d works. They were put together in a thoughtful process.
Upon entering the show the area was divided nicely by a temporary wall. The wall allowed less clutter with the art and split up traffic coming into the gallery. The art around the area was arranged in a way that let the work complement each other. Many of the works on the longest walls were color works. The works on the end walls of the gallery were more neutral. Some of the unique complicated works were placed next to more simple designs. The 3d works were arranged on multiple pedestal sizes. The only works that seemed lost were in an isolated place in the back of the gallery off to the side of the desk. The works all together were well done. Some of the works stood out to me right away.
The works that drew my attention the most were two paintings that seemed to have an underlying fire. Painting is a flexible medium that allows the highest detail or the loosest nonrepresentational abstraction. These two paintings, ‘Timberline’ and ‘Sunlight’ by Ray Noll, fall somewhere in between these two forms of painting, on a line I love to walk and view. Both works have
similar color schemes, but they each are individually designed as well. ‘Timberline’ is a stylistic oil painting of trees. Like the title says there is distinctly a line. The line is not a realistic timberline. A real timberline would be an area where no trees can grow. The foliage on all the trees seem to meet nearly the same place on all the trunks of the trees in the image. The trees’ trunks are also sectioned in the middle. They are not straight trunks so they keep the image from having perfectly idealized symmetry. I think this makes the image much more interesting to me. If the trunks were as symmetrical as the greenery, I think the spontaneity of the plants would be lost. ‘Sunlight’ is another work by Noll in the same series “Plein Air Forest Series.”. This work plays with movement instead of division. The trees are a secondary element but the light shines the brightest in this work. The light is exaggerated and pulls the viewers around the image. The trees give more linear elements to this work. These works really were a nice addition to the show.
A different set of works that I thought were good work but didn’t stand out as much to me as individual works were done by Selena Nawrocki. These works are well done but individually they don’t have much distinctiveness. They all seem to have the same general idea which is interesting but if you see one, the idea of her works is generally seen for all. They have extraordinary frames that are complex shapes which for me was the best part of the pieces. The frame work is fascinating. I would like to see more subjects inside the frames than stairs in every piece. Being an interior designer, this artist has a unique touch and abilities to do fascinating and skillfully designed works. I really want to see more diversity in her art works. As part of the gallery, Nawrocki’s works pulled both fine arts and interior design together.
Other artworks that drew my attention were done by Kalina Winska. Her works are abstracted mixed media pieces. ‘Atmospheric Gaze #5’ was displayed well. The work is done on a protruding board which seems to add a lot more space to her work. The work being displayed on the board and not behind glass helps it visually. The graphite lines are easier to see on the wood. The mix of mediums in ‘Atmospheric Gaze #5’ are used in a very intentional manner. Winska used graphite, gesso, water colored paints, and colored pencils to create this artwork. Sometimes it’s hard to pull off wet and dry mediums together, but Winska does it very well. As for the design of her work, one can get lost in the elements of it. There are lines with arrows, lots of dots, and other lines taking the gaze all across the page. Color is used but not as a crutch. The color seems to break up some of the areas and adds more layers to the image. The other work Winska has in the show, ’Atmospheric gaze #2,’ is a work that feels symmetrical. It has different approach than the other work because the gaze is lead differently. Instead of being lead everywhere, the gaze is drawn in and out from the center. The only issue with this work is the gallery lights are so intense it’s hard to see the small intricate line work behind the glass. For a gallery setting, Winska’s ‘Atmospheric Gaze #5’ presentation was the best.
The last work I’d like to mention is Hollis Barnett’s “fat vase with hidden lady” because the quality of the work is gorgeous. It was one of the best sculptural works in the show. I like this piece because even though it mentions a figure in its title it doesn’t directly bring me to this when I look at it. I find this work interesting because Barnett often does many figurative works and this to me was a beautiful vessel that was deviating from figurative work. The little rock top was a nice touch which compliments his work with stone. As a side note, I suggest reading the story behind the work. It’s amusing and shows you that nice work can come from something we initially underestimate.
The works I’ve mentioned are merely a handful of the works of the lovely faculty show.How I see it, the show was like a sample chocolate box. One may not necessarily like all the flavors, but I think it can be concluded that there’s something in this art show for just about everyone.
Katrina Perez is an Art major at Valdosta State University, and is originally from Burlington, Vermont. Katrina is focusing on Art, and she plans to be a freelance artist and create her own online business.