Photo by: Charli White
Many students see them simply as professors; while faculty members see them as colleagues, not artists. But for a few weeks, faculty members in the University of Denver Art and Art History and Electronic Media Arts and Design (eMAD) have their true colors on display.
The faculty art show, held at the Victoria H. Myhren Gallery, located in the Schwayder Art Building, features works that clamor for attention. Whether it’s photography, multi-segmented videos, refined wood sculptures, charcoal drawings, digital video games, encaustic paintings or exhibits made of dressmaker pins or acorns, the unique pieces demonstrate creativity and hard work.
Contributing to the exhibit are Lawrence Argent, Rafael Fajardo, Mia Fetterman-Mulvey, Angela Forster, Sarah Gjertson, Deborah Howard, Bethany Kriegsman, Roddy MacInnes, Chris St. Cyr, Maynard Tischler, and Timothy Weaver.
Fajardo, who exhibits two digital video games that simulate illegal border crossings on the Rio Grande, is currently working on completing two more.
“One of the [future] games will place the player in the shoes of a migrant farm worker. It will be a fast paced game with some painful surprises. The other one places the player in the shoes of a farmer in a coffee growing region. The farmer faces the decision of growing coffee or growing poppies. There will be consequences to both decisions,” said Fajardo.
Fetterman-Mulvey, who created a porcelain and acorn caps piece, is particularly interested in nature.
“Nature is an infinite spectrum of ideas,” she said.
She said she enjoys using the “illustrative and educational representation of objects that reflect the notions of wonder and natural beauty.”
Gjertson, who created a piece that explores three prominent figures within the history of psychoanalysis, used Styrofoam, dressmaker pins and foam dots.
“Each portrait, assembled on Styrofoam as a grandiose specimen of each man, is constructed of thousands of foam dots impaled by dressmaker pins,” she said.
“Each image is clear from a distance but distorted up close,” she added.
Weaver, whose piece is a DVD-video, said, “I create saturated narrative and immersive environments as a means of personally recalling events and phenomena that are subject to collective cultural, historical and spiritual amnesia.”
Weaver, assistant professor of eMAD and Digital Media Studies, added, “In doing so, I present layers of our societal belief systems. In particular, I present those layers that rationalize the human dilemma of admitting to our vulnerability. My intent in this activity is to enable participants to recall, re-imagine and regenerate what we may have already committed and perhaps lost to memory,” he continued.
For those who didn’t get a chance to see the exhibit this week, there is still time. Up until May 7, the gallery will be open on weekdays from 9-4 p.m. and weekends 12-4 p.m.
Don’t miss it. If this art show had been an exam, the faculty would have passed with flying colors.
