Enjoying the Student Art Exhibition

By: Isaac Brown, Elijah Dapkus

Photographed by: Raeleigh Cadd

From Jan. 24 to Feb. 18, the Design and Communication Department at George Fox University (GFU) hosted the annual Student Art Exhibits in the Lindgren Gallery (adjacent to Bauman Auditorium) and the Roger and Mildred Minthorne Gallery (on the first floor of the Hoover Academic Building).

Crescent reporters Isaac Brown and Elijah Dapkus visited both exhibits, and studied everything from sculptures to digital art. They chose some of their favorite pieces to reflect on and review.

Isaac Brown and Elijah Dapkus photographed by Raeleigh Cadd

"Passage," Heidi Bennick: This painting depicts someone sitting in the woods at sundown; it’s simple, but I found it to be one of the most captivating. Bennick uses colors only from a single spectrum (yellow to mustard to orange to brown), but gets incredible mileage by distributing and contrasting the hues, and using different strokes to create tangible detail in the foreground and soft vagueness in the distance. Despite the general yellow-orange-brown colors, the painting invokes the perfect evening ease and coolness that the color blue would struggle to capture. This, combined with the forested scene and the earthy texture of the paper and paint, adds up to a piece that was difficult to look away from. ~Brown

"The End of the World," Carla Cieza: This piece is a collage of three paintings, each one with wildly different hues and attitudes, underlain with multiple layers of color and bizarre design. While two of the images have a tasty satirical tone, the image on the left―a billowing blue heart―is simply gorgeous. There is something deep and quieting about the colors by themselves. However, when the colors are placed in context of one another and are arranged into a realistic texture, it becomes something I sure wish I could describe. And that’s just one part of the work. No matter which area of the painting you look at (or even if you’re looking at the background), you’re met with an interesting and perplexing idea in perfectly matched colors. Cieza has married bizarre, sinister, and playful, and somehow made it beautiful, too. (Another great work from the same artist of "Who Killed Diana?"). ~Brown

“The End of the World” photographed by Raeleigh Cadd

"Love of Learning," Maddie Koch: This mixed-media piece is an art exhibit by itself. Koch has taken a calligraphy textbook and filled it not only with her own calligraphy and calligraphed thoughts, but pictures and drawings with such a wide range of content that there’s not much use trying to sum it up. It has both the ancient, dignified flavor of an illuminated text and the modern, quirkier flavor of a zine. Each page has distinct ideas to keep you flipping through, but none of the ideas are so obtrusive that they don’t highlight something about the book itself. Each page rubbed off a bit of the artist’s enthusiasm on me and left me in no doubt about the genuineness of the title. ~Brown

“Love of Learning” photographed by Raeleigh Cadd

"The Notre Dame de Paris Pavilion," Nahe Beatty: Beatty boasts an incredibly detailed redesign of the Notre Dame Pavilion. Her Pavilion’s structure is cross-like, and its decor and use take inspiration from important biblical episodes. Everything about it provokes Christian reflection, overlapping the past with the present and future. The orange grove and bakery used to mirror the Garden of Eden and breaking of bread are beautiful and modern uses of the Notre Dame de Paris’ space. ~Dapkus

Elijah Dapkus photographed by Raeleigh Cadd

"Retribution of Zoll," Corrie Patton: What Retribution of Zoll lacks in detail, it makes up for in story-telling ability. An entire movie could be made about this simple sketch. Personally, I believe Zoll was a phoenix titan whose wings were clipped by someone in the city, hence the fire it emanates and the birds circling it’s head. As for the two characters taking in the devastation in the foreground, who knows? Your story is as good as mine. ~Dapkus

“Retribution of Zoll” photographed by Raeleigh Cadd

"Art Department," by George Inglesby: "Art Department" reminded me that art is under no imperative to strive to achieve some deeper meaning; it can just be fun. "Art Department" portrays nine GFU School of Communication and Design professors as adorable mice. Inglesby uses both color and negative space very stylishly in this piece, and decorated each mouse creatively. My personal favorite portrayal is School of Communication and Design Director Jillian Sokso, who holds pages labeled “How to Run an Art Department.” If you don’t know these faculty members, this piece hints at a sliver of each of their personalities; and if you do know them, it’s gold. ~Dapkus