Ceramic teapots, an artist’s performance and wood carvings gave presence to the Miller Fine Arts Center on May 11, at the opening reception of the 2011 Thesis/Portfolio exhibition “Concentrated Chaos.”

The event, sponsored by the Linfield Gallery and the Department of Art and Visual Culture, began with presentations by junior and senior art majors in the Withnell Commons in front of family and friends. The students explained their influences, progression and style behind their beginning works to their final portfolio and thesis projects.

The artist talks were then followed by a reception in the Linfield Gallery, where the students’ artwork could be viewed up close.  For nine of these students, the event marked the end of a collegiate career.

“I’m hoping I can do this for a living,” said senior Amanda Holtby, who has already made a profit selling one of her 25 handcrafted, ceramic teapot sets. “I have several people interested in buying my sets.”

Holtby, one of four students required to create a website for her artwork, in addition to the final project, said she was inspired to create the teapots because they are the classic test of the potter’s skill, integrating the basic elements of a functioning piece. She also described her work as introspective and meditative.

Holtby said she has an idea of how she hopes visitors of her exhibit will react toward her project.

“Ceramics is not deeply philosophical,” she said. “I hope viewers will take away a sense of playfulness and appreciation [for my work].”

Senior Adriana Doust used her education in theatre courses and acting experience in the Linfield Theatre production “Execution of Justice” to perform her artwork.  In her piece “Loss of Innocence” Doust confronted her own spirituality and sexuality in front of viewers during the reception, using a knife to cut open a white, pillow and her hands to crush strawberries over the fabric.

“It was more heartfelt than any object could convey,” Doust said about her performance. “It was the easiest and genuine way to convey the message behind my art.”

Doust said she often relies on her journal to resurface emotions that influence her work.

“It helps me reflect on how I felt during a certain time and get back into the zone,” she said.

Junior Ebonee Atkins used the theme of man’s relationship with nature as the driving force behind her collection of pieces titled “TIMBER!!,” which featured two wood-carved pieces mounted on the gallery wall.

Atkins said she wanted to make a political statement with her art.

“It’s about the relationship between man and nature and how we destroy and take advantage of the environment,” she said.

Atkins said she is influenced by land art, the use of natural materials and organic media to make art in nature.

“I like the fact that it will be here forever and it would be interesting to see how it can change or stay the same overtime,” she said.

Other portfolios displayed works centered around beading, photography, video, sewing, paint, drawing and the use of sheet metal and chicken wire to convey diverse personal and political messages.

After listening to the artist talks and viewing the students’ portfolios, senior Emily Hopping found a connection within the exhibition.

“They all look physically very different, but in several of the artists’ speeches they mentioned elements such as identity, memory and the ephemeral which indicates passing and things that don’t stay the same,” Hopping said. “I see an exchange of ideas, but then the artists took those ideas and went in different directions.”

“Concentrated Chaos” will be open to the public for viewing through May 29.  The gallery, located in Building B of the Miller Fine Arts Center, is open Monday-Friday from 9-5 p.m. and Saturday from 12-5 p.m.

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Felicia Weller/Copy editor
Felicia Weller can be reached at linfieldreviewcopy@gmail.com.

 

 

Artist Damien Gilley spoke in an artist talk on Feb. 19., answering questions from the audience and describing his artwork, which is on exhibit in the Linfield Gallery.

His piece, titled “Masterplexed,” is a maze-like design that challenges perceived and actual space. It features temporary walls set up at 45-degree angles that confuse the eye’s perception of the installation. The continuity of the walls and lines are interrupted by the artist’s manipulation.

“The main point was to create space visually instead of physically,” Gilly said.

Gilley uses the installation of makeshift walls using gray panels to develop and elaborate on the room’s already existing walls. The lines on the panels are contrasted with additional orange lines. Everything in the exhibit is set to a grid with simple angles.

He said he wanted to reinforce the grid and then break it at the same time.

“The orange lines have no grid relationship; they are less measured and less predictable,” Gilley said.

Cris Moss, gallery director and instructional associate of art and visual culture, shared his perceptions of the exhibit.

Gilley’s work “questions how we view our personal space and perception. His art is busy yet clean. It uses simple lines and colors that allow the viewer to extend viewing past the walls,” Moss said.

The simplicity of the display is one of Gilley’s artistic traits. At first glance, the piece looks complex and busy but is simple at it’s core.

“The goal is to create a perplexing space with a minimal amount of visual stimuli, allowing the viewer to explore and experience subtle perceptual phenomena. The space is optically playing with color, spacial depth and flatness,” Gilley said.

The exhibit translates as something different to everyone who sees it.

“The exhibit is sort of a maze,” freshman Harry Bayley said.“It reminded me of a fun house. I like that it suggests depth without using shading. It looks like you could almost walk into the wall.”

Gilley reflected on his work.

“I like making visually challenging spaces, specifically referencing contemporary architectural developments,” he said. ‘Masterplexed’ is a pun on ‘master-planned communities’ and developments with a confusing twist.”

Gilley’s artwork has been showcased in many venues including the Las Vegas Museum of Art, the Arthouse in Austin, Texas, and even the East West Project in Berlin. He has received many grants from the Regional Arts & Culture Council and was awarded an artist fellowship by the Oregon Arts Commission in 2010.

He is an adjunct professor at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Art Institute in Portland.

The exhibit will run through March 12. Gilley’s flat artwork is also featured inside of the James F. Miller Fine Arts Gallery.
For more information, contact Moss at cmoss@linfield.edu.

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Kelsey Sutton, Staff Reporter

Despite changes in the jury lineup, Linfield’s annual Juried Student Exhibition opened without a hitch on Dec. 1 at the Fine Art Gallery in the James F. Miller Fine Arts Center.

An appearance by D.K. Row, invited juror visual arts critic for the Oregonian, was canceled at the last minute, but the show continued with three campus judges: Professor of Art Nils Lou, Professor of Psychology Victoria McGillin and Brian Winkenweder associate professor of art history and department of arts and visual culture chair.

“In years past, we have brought in an outside juror, and this year the individual we had selected had a family emergency, so he was not able to make good on his commitment,” Winkenweder said. “He is intending to do something on behalf of our department next semester.”

In this juried exhibition format, all students were invited to submit their art, from which the judges made selections as to what to include in the show.

“[We judges] went around independently of one another and made our own private selections. As it turned out, we had made a collection of unanimous selections without ever speaking to one another,” Winkenweder said.
McGillin said this rare unanimous decision reflected the quality of the work.

“The fact that the caliber of the work was so high that the entire show was filled only with pieces selected by all three jurors speaks to the excellence of the field,” McGillin said in an e-mail.

Although the decision was unanimous, the submissions were extremely diverse.

“This particular show is pretty eclectic,” Lou said. “It explores a lot of media, from sheet metal roofing kinds of constructions to photography, carved wood, plastic caps, ceramics, a DVD and a painting.”

What the judges were looking for in submissions and winners was work that pulled in the viewer, Lou said.

“[The winners] had the most original and strongest statement in their work and were using their chosen media in an original and compelling manner that drew my eye toward them and begged for a sustained viewing, and that’s what the best of art does: kind of capture your mind, your eye, your body and want you to look [at] for a long period, to think. The best work makes you think,” Winkenweder said. “And our winners definitely are producing probative, thinking pieces.”

Junior Gabriel Stallings, whose sheet metal piece received first prize, said winning imparted a feeling of validation to his art.

“It is a justification that you are doing something worthwhile not only for you but that you are sharing an idea that others think is important,” Stallings said.

Senior Arminda Gandara said having her film “Cette Poule” come in second place came as a pleasant surprise.

“I have little experience in digital video and was unsure on how successful ‘Cette Poule’ would be when it was so far outside of my medium: fibers,” Gandara said in an e-mail. “The piece has a lot of personal relevance though, so the recognition was nice.”

Despite this, Gandara did find some fault with the exhibition.

“I was a little disappointed with the exhibition this year,” Gandara said. “Visually, it’s a little cluttered, but above all, I would have liked to have had an impartial juror. As much as I respect the Linfield faculty that did judge the student work, it’s always refreshing to have the opinion of an outside eye.”

Sophomore Chloe Raymond, whose carved wood piece received third place, said it was a surprise and honor to place.

The judges expressed positive opinions regarding the quality and scope of this year’s exhibition.

“I think this was one of the best student shows in my six years of being here, with a tremendous amount of energy and vitality going on,” Winkenweder said. “What the students are making as artists is really remarkable and varying.”

The exhibition will remain on display until Dec. 18. The Fine Art Gallery is open Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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Gabi Nygaard/Staff reporter
Gabi Nygaard can be reached at linfieldreviewculture@gmail.com.

Beginning Oct. 1, McMinnville kicked off its annual Art Harvest Studio Tour. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., people from Yamhill County toured art studios and watched artists at work. Some of the studios included Third Street’s Currents Gallery, Hidden Treasures and Pacific Frame.
The event was sponsored by the Arts Alliance of Yamhill County. James Dowlen, an artist and member of the AAYC, participated in the tour.
“This is my fifth year. I have a lot of fun doing it, he said. “It’s really pleasant. It attracts people who are tuned in to your artwork.”
The event has taken place for close to 19 years. This year, Dowlen served as tour coordinator and acts as the primary communication between the artists and the AAYC.
He encourages students to come check out the event.
“Everyone is welcome to come join the tour — especially art students,” he said.
Another artist in the studio tour was Jess Anderson. This was Anderson’s first year with the tour.
“I got my first set of paints when I was 11,” Anderson said via e-mail. “I can’t remember when I didn’t do art; it has always been an important part of my life.”
Anderson attended commercial art schools and pursued that part of the business for approximately 20 years. He also taught at Chemeketa Community College and at state and federal prisons off and on for 30 years, he said via e-mail.
“I made some fine artists out of guys who had never traveled that road,” Anderson said via e-mail. “[They were] was some of my best experiences.”
One of Anderson’s most notable works in the tour is his oil painting “American Gothic Goats.”
Anderson’s other pieces for this year’s studio tour include “Aristocat,” “Painted Utopia” and “Salvador Doggie.”
“I always welcome guests who want to visit my studio,” Anderson said via e-mail.
The Arts Alliance was formed in the 1980s and is a nonprofit arts organization that strives to raise awareness of the visual arts.
The AAYC welcomes anyone who loves the arts and is mainly comprised of volunteers. There are members and an executive board. Associate Professor of Mass Communication Lisa Weidman is the alliance’s president.
“The primary goal is to nourish the creative spirit in everyone,” she said. “The president just keeps the wheels turning.”
The Arts Alliance promotes the arts, supports arts programs and arts education. However, the artists do most of their own fundraising.
Some of the works in the tour include ceramics, photography, paintings, jewelry, paper art and woodwork.
The tour runs Oct. 8-10 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information about the AAYC, visit to www.artsallianceyamhillco.org.
For more information about Dowlen’s art visit www.dowelnartworks.com.
For more information about Anderson’s art visit www.jessanderson.com.

Chelsea Ploof/Freelancer
Jessica Prokop/Culture editor
Chelsea Ploof and Jessica Prokop can be reached at linfieldreviewculture@gmail.com