Ohio Wesleyan Graduating Seniors Display Artworks in ‘Essentials’ Exhibition
OWU fine arts seniors are busy preparing for their ‘Essentials’ exhibition at the Ross Art Museum. The show opens Sunday with a public reception from 2-4 p.m. Works from 20 seniors will be on display. (Photo by Anna Rigby ’11)
The artworks of 20 Ohio Wesleyan University graduating seniors will be on display from April 17 through May 8 at OWU’s Richard M. Ross Art Museum. The exhibition will open with an artist reception from 2-4 p.m. April 17.
The 2011 senior show is titled “Essentials,” a name chosen by the seniors to represent the breadth and depth of their Ohio Wesleyan experiences.
“Essentials describes the encompassing theme of our work as graduating seniors,” says exhibition chair Brenna Irrer, a fine arts major from Ann Arbor, Mich. “The show is an exhibition of our most accomplished pieces, the essentials of our four years of study at Ohio Wesleyan University.”
All artworks on display were selected by a jury of Ohio Wesleyan fine arts faculty. After the pieces were chosen, the exhibit was designed by Justin Kronewetter, M.F.A., director of the Ross Art Museum, with input from the seniors. The exhibit was installed by students in Kronewetter’s gallery management class.
Ohio Wesleyan graduating seniors participating in the “Essentials” exhibition are:
Timothy Albon of Columbus, Ohio. Albon’s areas of concentration are photography, printmaking, and ceramics. “I use a variety of media in an attempt to convey feelings of time and place in hopes of creating a connection between the viewer and the work. My goal is to create appreciation for the items and landscapes that inspire me.” Dusty Alexander of Plain City, Ohio. Alexander is specializing in graphic design. “I choose not to limit myself to one single style or approach, and feel that both realism and complete abstraction can be equally satisfying. Those two ends of the spectrum represent two different ways of simply seeing the world, which as an artist I strive to do in as many different ways as possible.” Maggie Crandall of Wooster, Ohio. Crandall’s concentration is photography. “From a young age my camera has been like an appendage, an extension of my body. The camera is my tool of choice to explore and express the way I view the world. My four years at Ohio Wesleyan have expanded my mind and my creativity in many ways.” Meredith Dargusch of Granville, Ohio. “This year … I became very interested in the human figure and the different gestures and forms. … The stories behind the figures I depicted are what fascinate me the most, and I attempted to reveal their personality in the image. I did this with meaningful marks and few colors. I try to make my artwork simple but impactful.” Jeffrey Driscoll of Shreve, Ohio. Driscoll’s areas of concentration are ceramics and photography. “In my years of study at Ohio Wesleyan University I have been taught many lessons from experienced artists and instructors. However, one professor enlightened me to a lesson that resonated throughout my art and into my being. ‘Relax,’ he told me, ‘Step back and loosen up.’ And thus I did.” Olivia Duffy of Bound Brook, N.J. Duffy’s concentration is painting. She is a history minor. “I have experimented in many different mediums, and I feel I am constantly improving because of it. While I enjoy almost every aspect of art, I will always gravitate towards painting. It best suits my personality because it allows me to be calculated and chaotic at the same time. It channels my thoughts and puts me at ease.” Jeffrey Eden of Charlestown, R.I. Eden’s area of concentration is drawing. “When looking at my work, one is intimately seeing my beliefs, emotions, my spirituality, the very essence of my being. The works I have chosen for this particular show follow the common theme of a spiritual journey in the realm of the ancients. There is still much validity in the noble Pagan spirit, and this I convey to my viewers through this series of drawings, which has come to demonstrate the apex of my artistic growth over the past five years.” Gretchen Ehrhart of Hermitage, Pa. Ehrhart’s areas of concentration are painting and drawing. She is a sociology minor. “I have been experimenting with different ways to display the human form. … I have used an expressionist approach to the form—using charcoal and ink wash, using the movement of my marks. I have felt the challenges of capturing figures as a three-dimensional form on a two-dimensional surface and have since resolved this struggle by working in a very decorative style.” Joanna Hartley of Washington Court House, Ohio. Hartley’s areas of concentration are painting and ceramics. She is an education minor. “My work is largely figurative; oil paintings and stoneware or porcelain. An overall theme is lost connections, as many of my portraits are of families taken from found antique photographs of people I’ve never met. The ceramic figures are meant to represent an overall juxtaposition of suffering and gluttony seen across the world.” Brenna Irrer of Ann Arbor, Mich. Irrer is specializing in ceramics. She is a German studies minor. “My work is the direct result of the hands interacting with and reshaping the clay medium, and I feel the finished product should be equally as interactive with the hands. My goal is to create a finished piece which reflects the hands-on nature of clay as a medium, not only intriguing the eye but also the viewer’s sense of touch through shape and texture.” Marie Krulewitch of Indianapolis, Ind. Krulewitch is specializing in painting. She also is a psychology double-major and a music minor. “Since I was a little girl I have been fascinated with makeup and have always enjoyed ‘painting my face.’ As I’ve been working out different artistic processes, I couldn’t help but find many similarities between the way people handle and apply makeup and the way an artist handles a paintbrush and sculpts figures on paper. I decided to try makeup as a medium, and was very pleased with the results.” Vanessa Lang of Ann Arbor, Mich. Lang is a fine arts and sociology/anthropology double major. “Working through ideas and completing an object in either the 2D or 3D form strengthens my social understanding and personal awareness. … Over the past four years, I have lost and found artistic inspiration, gained experience and knowledge in a plethora of media, and discovered relations and parallels between Sociology and Fine Arts, my two fields of academic study.” Kevin Lovat of Sunbury, Ohio. “To me, photography is a tool to show people places or things that they don’t normally see or show them an ordinary object in a new light. My only hope is that my pieces are taken as is and nothing more.” Jonathan McBride of Gambier, Ohio. “I do not fancy myself an artist. I say this because the media I use give me far more than I could ever feasibly give to them. … I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to create with my hands, and intend to strive for the label artist for the rest of my life.” Marisa Obuchowski of Baltimore, Md. Obuchowski’s areas of concentration are graphic design and computer imaging. She is a Spanish minor. “Over the course of four years, I was forced to take a multitude of art classes outside of my concentration. Although at the time I did not understand the point in taking photography, ceramics, print making, drawing, or metals, I now see the importance of being well-rounded as an artist. The variety of courses has taught me a wide range of skills that are now fundamental to my design aesthetic.” Martha Lear-Park of Memphis, Tenn. Lear-Park is a double major in fine arts and English/creative writing. “My work over the past four years has explored homesickness. I have tried to pinpoint what exactly it is about the South that I have been homesick for, resulting in a body of work representing the South literally, symbolically, and geographically. … And now I’m going to go home and stop missing it so much.” Anna Rigby of Parma Heights, Ohio. Rigby’s areas of concentration are graphic design and computer imaging. She is a sociology minor. “I enjoy experimenting with the use of color, line, and detail and lean toward a more design-based technique. I have fun exploring and finding new avenues into the art world and testing new ideas. As a Sociology minor, I am also interested in and intrigued by people, their behavior and their presence. I try to incorporate these areas into my work as well.” Kara Saulsberry of St. Louis, Mo. Saulsberry’s areas of concentration are graphic design and photography. “My aim in my digital photography is to capture moments and to return to that same moment and see how much it has changed and grown, as I have, since I last visited. In my work, I find that it is truly exciting to see how much life changes, and usually for the better.” Kimberly Seibert of Chevy Chase, Md. Seibert’s areas of concentration are sculpture and painting. “I enjoy working in three dimensions, creating tactile works of art that are viewed differently from any angle. And I enjoy painting due to the wet quality of paint and the near-infinite variety of colors that can be created.” Anh Vu of Hanoi, Vietnam. Vu’s areas of concentration are sculpture, drawing, and computer imaging. “My sketches take root in my practice of drawing simple geometric forms. The three components—line, shape, and form—are the most fundamental of all the makings of architecture. One must fully grasp the relationships among them to understand the structure of things. To me, understanding those elements allows me to transform new, abstract ideas into architectural forms.”The Ross Art Museum is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. during the academic year. The museum is closed Mondays and Saturdays. For more information, call (740) 368-3606.