By Sandra Barrios
On August 21, 2017, there was a faculty art show exhibition at the Valdosta State University. It is located in Valdosta, GA. Walking through the gallery, there were a variety of themes in each artwork. There were some sculptures, paintings, ceramics, and photography in the exhibition. Each artwork had its own story and creativity. Some of the artwork that stood out most was the vibrant impasto colors of Julie Bowland’s paintings and the drawings by Craig Hawkins, representing his beliefs on Christianity. Kalina Winska’s drawings were a form of her interpretation of science and nature in an abstracted form. She uses simplistic colors in her line drawing of reds and blues.
Abigail Heuss’s metalsmithing pieces were ordinary but also caught the eye in its simplistic form of patterns, copper, brass, and silver colors. Her Untitled Bowls were more decorative than functional unless you were to use the two pieces as a jewelry holder. The detail of her work is clean, shiny, and perfectly rounded. Inside the bowl has a design which looks like a form of a flower or a pattern. The artwork is very simplistic but holds its power from its decorative form.
Peterman’s sculptural wall pieces were very big, simplistic, and abstracted. The artwork Anomaliae is a huge round black object and cut out in the middle are rows of black coal. In the right-hand corner, there is a white egg-shaped form stuck in between the rows of coal. The work is very simplistic and decorative. His other work, Ignem Aeternum which means, “Ever Lasting Fire” is also huge but around the object are matches. The object itself shows a similar form to the Zen image. This sculptural piece has two swirls and a circle on the left of the object. At the time of the exhibition, I wondered what it would look like when it is up in flames, creating an “Ever Lasting Fire” effect from those matches.
In Craig Hawkins’s drawings, When We Could Not Step Up, He Stepped Down and A Place at the Table are both great drawings. However, the second drawing reminded me of a different artwork that an older artist has done. The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci stuck into my head when I looked into Hawkins’s work, A Place at the Table. Hawkins’s work shows his form of a theme which is Christianity. The drawing, A Place at the Table shows the part of a communion where Jesus is breaking the bread giving it to others. The drawing is formed as a time-lapse sequence where the start of the bread is high up, brought down to break it in pieces, and then passing the bread to others beside him.
As stated in his statement he shows his devotion to his spirituality and the drawings represents that. When We Could Not Step Up, He Stepped Down shows a representation of Jesus coming down from the ladder sacrificing his love for the people so the people can have a righteous path to heaven. However, in the work, the face is the artist himself coming down the ladder. My first thought was, “How can the artist see himself that way?” I then later came to realize he is very much devoted to the religion and the faith he has for himself and others. The drawing represents the artist having faith in Jesus and having faith himself that he can step down when maybe no one else can.
The most intriguing pieces were the paintings of Julie Bowland’s. She uses a variety of rich beautiful colors of pinks, reds, blues, and greens into her work. Most of her paintings are landscapes and use impasto. The thick application of oil paint onto the canvas shows a form like cake frosting. Madison Blue Spring shows a great landscape of the trees and land across the canvas. The colors are vivid and bright, catching the viewer’s eyes. Julie Bowland shows the beauty of nature in her piece creating a sense of awe and making you feel like you were at the scene. Even though her paintings are not realistic, her texture, lines, and impressionistic form shows the true form of beauty in nature.
Overall, everyone enjoyed their stay at the exhibition. The artworks in the gallery were wonderful and showed the artist’s creativity. There was a variety of mediums in the gallery and I do not believe anyone could have been disappointed in the show. All the people were having fun, conversing with their family and friends. I enjoyed the paintings best and it was great to see the uniqueness of everyone’s work. I hope to come again next year with more people than the last.
Sandra Barrios is majoring in Art and minoring in Psychology at Valdosta State University. She is originally from Moultrie, GA. Sandra is focusing on oil painting and photography. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in Art Therapy after she graduates in December 2017.