Clemson Visual Arts

Department of art’s annual fall Ceramic Bowl Sale to be held November 16

Media ReleaseThe department of art will hold the annual Fall Ceramics Bowl Sale from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16.

CLEMSON — The ceramics studio in the department of art at Clemson University will hold the annual Fall Ceramics Bowl Sale from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, in the hallway in front of the Lee Gallery in Lee Hall.

This popular annual sale is a fundraiser that supports student travel to the upcoming National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference as well as other professional activities that help further student research and collaboration.

A selection of bowls and other functional works by ceramics undergraduate and graduate students and faculty will be available in a variety of price points. The Clemson Ceramics Association’s homemade soup will be served free with the purchase of a bowl between noon and 1 p.m. The annual Spring Ceramic Sale will be held April 26, 2017.

For additional information, contact the department of art’s associate professor of ceramics, Valerie Zimany, vzimany@clemson.edu.

Master’s candidates display final thesis via a ‘solastalgia’ exhibition

Media Release

Solastagia CU CalendarCLEMSON – “Solastalgia,” an exhibition by Clemson University Master of Fine Arts candidates Deighton Abrams and Haley Floyd opened this week and will run until Nov. 11 at the Center for Visual Arts-Lee Gallery. The public is invited to a reception with artist talks beginning at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 11.

Through the sculptural work of ceramist Abrams and photographs by Floyd, “Solastalgia” explores the physical, psychological and emotional relationship between the environment and human identity. Connected to the concepts of solace and desolation, solastalgia is used by environmental philosophers to describe the human distress associated with environmental sickness regarding home. Both artists reflect on this relationship through their personal experiences of home.

This final research thesis exhibit showcases a culmination of research in which students go through a series of critiques as master’s candidates helping build a body of work of the students’ choosing.

The Center for Visual Arts – Lee Gallery at Clemson University will be open for this exhibit 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Mondays-Fridays. It is located in 1-101 Lee Hall, 323 Fernow St. The exhibition, artist talks and reception are free to the public because of the generous support given to the Center for Visual Arts. For more information about exhibitions in the Lee Gallery, as well as other Center for Visual Arts galleries and venues, visit www.clemson.edu/cva.

Why MFA Grad Student, Kymberly Day Chose Clemson Over a Big City School

2016-10-14 Artist Friday - Kymberly DaySince October is a popular month for visual arts undergraduate students to begin researching and applying for graduate schools, I’d like to share some reflections from current MFA sculpture candidate, Kimberly Day as to why she chose Clemson University over a big city school.

Although many students are drawn to Clemson University because of its reputation for having a highly ranked football team, this was not on Kymberly Day’s list of criteria when looking for a strong MFA program. After graduating with her BFA, Kymberly joined a Greenville independent studio. During this time she applied to “big city” graduate art schools, two Portland universities and Clemson University. Some of Kymberly’s main concerns were affordability, living proximity, the program’s reputation, and the pace. Clemson’s MFA program ranked highly in each of these categories, making Clemson University Kymberly’s first choice.

The year-round paid teaching assistant position was a huge influence in Kymberly’s monetary minded decision. Clemson is in a rural location and has a lower cost of living comparative to some bigger city schools she was considering. Working in large three-dimensional sculptures and not having to rely on public transportation was a huge advantage as well. Clemson’s program is also known for placing graduates in teaching positions which is a rarity with other schools. Lastly, Kymberly found that the pace and social environment of the program was very supportive, a refreshing reality to more cut throat programs.

 

If you are looking to apply to the Clemson MFA program, search for dates and application requirements at http://www.clemson.edu/caah/departments/art/academics/graduate/applying.html or contact our MFA Program Coordinator, Dave Detrich, ddavid@clemson.edu.

 

Art Students Gain Valuable Experience Through Lee Gallery Internship

Lee Gallery Intern, Hannah CarteeThe Center for Visual Arts – Lee Gallery at Clemson University is known to be a catalyst for showcasing the research of art students, faculty, national and international artists. What is not commonly known is that it also offers an internship opportunities to Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) students. The program is run by the gallery director, Denise Woodward-Detrich. Student interns gain hands on experience and professional development by working on real life projects. Students also receive custom course credit based on hours not to mention valuable experience to put on their resume.

The program involves students researching and writing about artists and events, handling artwork, welcoming guests, and preparing interviews for artist visits. This semester, 11 student interns have worked on a variety of projects on campus in addition to traveling to art lectures and artist studios. One visit even included Skype meeting with the Director of the Andy Warhol Museum.

Earlier this semester, interns learned to hang frames for the installation of the most recent student juried show, Connections and Conversations. This exhibit is currently on display in the College of Architecture, Arts and Humanities Dean’s office. They also drafted questions for a studio visit with David Detrich after representing Clemson in a forum on public art at the Anderson Arts Center the previous week.

Lee Gallery Interns - Making FramesInterns, Hannah Cartee and Leah Brazell developed and delivered a gallery talk with interactive activities to almost 50 middle school students. Activities took place at a permanent art installation in Hardin Hall and at MFA alumnus, Richard Lou’s,  Stories On My Back installation in the Lee Gallery. Additional projects include introducing visiting artist, Richard Lou at his artist talk and writing an article for the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) thesis exhibition, Solastalgia, which is scheduled to open in the Lee Gallery later this month on Monday, Oct, 31.

Most recently, student interns, Johnny Murphy and Caroline Herring prepared condition reports for the Foundations exhibit. In addition, Hannah Cartee and Leah Brazell worked in the woodshop to make frames for an upcoming photography exhibit in the spring.

Interns not only execute tasks for the Lee Gallery, but also learn by preparing future projects which is an essential practice of gallery work. Reliability, efficiency, and knowledge of art are all characteristics displayed by good interns. Lee Gallery functions with the contribution of the student interns, who in turn, benefit by gaining rich professional skills of hands on activities and communications as undergraduates.

 

Artist and Sculpture Professor, Dave Detrich’s Shares his Studio Process

Dave Detrich - Studio Visit2Earlier this month, Center for Visual Arts-Lee Gallery at Clemson University interns visited the studio of sculpture professor and the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) graduate program coordinator, Dave Detrich. All of the art department professors are not only teachers, but they are working artists. Interns were able to view his sculpture in person and they had an opportunity to ask him questions. Here is a summarized account of his answers.

 

What is your visual arts background?

Detrich was initially interested in architecture. His mentor and professor, Dan Lowery, at Southwestern Illinois College, served as huge inspiration and motivation towards a career in art. He received his BFA from the Kanas City Art Institute, Missouri and his MFA from Alfred University, New York. Viewing the building of the St. Louis arch inspired questions about the anomaly on the landscape within his work.

 

Has your industrialized location influenced your work?

St. Louis’s urbanization, industrialization, and its city parks are all cultural initiatives that have inspired Detrich’s sculpture. His father’s job working on a motor assembly line also influenced the direction of his work.

 

What is the context that your work presents itself?

Detrich focuses heavily on preparatory research and values originality of content he is addressing. Often, he extracts elements discourse subjects to create irony.

 

Dave Detrich - Studio VisitIs there a reason you have been using wall sculpture versus sculpture in the round in your current work?

The wall is a place he consistently goes to as a building site. His current work considers consumerism in the automotive and fashion industries. He is using a coring tool to create circular cuts in magazines of these subjects and arrange these chance cuts into connected images.

 

Is there a reoccurring starting point that you return to for inspiration?

Through collecting, Detrich tries to find the ironic connections between things unrelated. Many of his ideas are the result of months of processing through ideas, making the forecast of his work unpredictable.

 

You wrote that your sculpture is most successful when it poses a question rather than make a statement. If it does this, what action do you want your viewers to take?

He believes his work is successful when it invites his viewers to ponder rather than answer a question for them. He does not seek an editorial approach, but rather one that initiates a dialogue.

Detrich’s current works are investigating the poetry of paint chip names, the intersections between automobiles and fashion, and the elements of Piet Mondrian’s minimalism.

 

The visit was enlightening to the students. They were able to understand Detrich’s artistic journey, his particular mode of working, and his translation of ideas through his sculpture and its impact on viewers.

 

An artist returns to his roots: Clemson’s Center for Visual Arts hosts “Stories on My Back”

Media Release

“Stories on My Back,” an installation by Clemson Master of Fine Arts (MFA) alumnus Richard Alexander Lou, ’86 will open the 2016-17 season in the Center for Visual Arts – Lee Gallery on Aug. 22 and run until Oct. 13.  On Friday, Sept. 23 at 5:30 p.m., the artist will give an artist talk about his work with a reception to follow in the gallery.

Lou was born and grew up in San Diego, CA with a biracial family, which was spiritually and intellectually guided by an anti-colonialist Chinese father and a culturally affirming Mexicana mother. After earning his bachelor’s degree in San Diego, CA, Lou continued his education at Clemson University, citing a handwritten note from the Chair of the Department of Art, a tradition that is still practiced today, as the decisive factor that led him to choose Clemson out of almost one hundred potential graduate schools. Lou has exhibited internationally and has over 30 years’ experience teaching in higher education, 20 years as an arts administrator most recently serving as Chair of the Department of Art at University of Memphis in Memphis, TN.

He has been invited back to campus to showcase his traveling multimedia installation that combines photography, found objects and sound walls of tamale husks. The artist writes, “As a contemporary image-maker I am interested in collecting dissonant ideas and narratives, allowing them to bump into each other, to coax new meanings and possibilities that dismantle the hierarchy of images. The work serves as an ideological, social, political and cultural matrix from which I understand my place in this world and to make a simple marking of the cultural shifts of my community.”

“Stories on My Back” art installation was featured in the recently released book, The Routledge Companion to Latina/o Popular Culture by Guisela Latorre, PhD, as a reference to the increasing proliferation of Lantina/o culture in modern American popular culture.

This innovative art collaboration with Richard A. Lou, ’86 is part of the Center for Visual Art’s commitment to support the 2020 ClemsonForward strategic plan to provide educational activities to attract and retain outstanding students by “providing an exceptional educational experience grounded in engagement.” In addition, Richard collaborated with four other artists, three of whom are Clemson University alumni: Chere Labbe Doiron, Jo Carol Mitchell-Rogers ’87, Robert Spencer ’86 and Chris Wallace ’86.

The Center for Visual Arts-Lee Gallery at Clemson University will be open for this exhibit 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays. It is located in 1-101 Lee Hall, 323 Fernow St. The exhibition, artist talks and reception are free to the public because of the generous support given to the Center for Visual Arts. For more information about exhibitions in the Lee Gallery, as well as other Center for Visual Arts galleries and venues, visit www.clemson.edu/cva.

Clemson Arts shine throughout Artisphere 2016

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GREENVILLE — During the second weekend of May, connections to Clemson University’s visual art program were on full display at Artisphere, Downtown Greenville’s annual arts and crafts festival. Beyond the orange splendor of Clemson’s festival tents, STEAM and the Art Department demonstration, there were numerous more connections to Tigertown to be found by looking a little harder at the other displays that lined Main Street. We are proud to announce the orange ties for those who may have missed them.

  • Syd Cross, Visual Art Professor Emerita, Contemporary Print Collective
  • Tom Dimond, Visual Art Professor Emeritus, Artists of the Upstate Exhibit
  • Marty Epp-Carter, MFA, OpenStudios Retrospective
  • Michael Marks, MFA alumnus, Artists of the Upstate Exhibit
  • Jo Carol Mitchell-Rogers, MFA, OpenStudios Retrospective
  • Carey Morton, MFA candidate, metalworking demonstration
  • Alexia Timberlake-Boyd, MFA, OpenStudios Retrospective
  • Ryan Roth, MFA alumnus, Artists of the Upstate Exhibit
  • Kathleen Thum, Visual Art Faculty, Artists of the Upstate Juror
  • Mike Vatalaro, Visual Art Professor Emeritus, OpenStudios Retrospective

We were inspired by all of the work of our former and current students and faculty. It is always encouraging to see Clemson’s innovative spirit on full display. Greenville, Clemson’s ‘Home City,’ certainly got a taste for the excellent and talented people who represent the Visual Arts at Clemson University. Thank you and congratulations!

To see photos from the Clemson exhibits at Artisphere 2016, click here.

Art Students Reflect Through End of the Year Exhibition

Art FoundationsAs the spring semester came to a close, Art Foundations students at Clemson University installed pieces in the Center for Visual Arts – Lee Gallery and a reception drew faculty, staff, friends and family to enjoy the wide range of unique student art. This exciting event celebrating the hard work of these students is invaluable to the creative growth process.

The Art Foundations end of the year visual review provides art students the opportunity to achieve preparing and organizing a display of artwork in a professional manner. It also allows students time to reflect upon the work created in the first few years as an art major in order to prepare for moving forward through the department of art curriculum.

Any undergraduate art student who has completed all four studio foundation courses is invited to participate. The department of art classifies Art Foundations I, Art Foundations II, Foundation Drawing I and Foundation Drawing II to be the four classes required to complete this fundamental phase. Every student submits eight to ten works of art of their choosing, keeping in mind the idea of displaying a cohesive collection of the best work to date. The students also submit a written statement analyzing their collections.

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About The Center for Visual Arts
The Center for Visual Arts (CVA) at Clemson University is where students, visitors and scholars explore contemporary perspectives in art and culture through research, outreach programming and studio practice. With a mission to engage and render visible the creative process, the CVA is a dynamic intellectual and physical environment where art is created, exhibited and interpreted. It educates through academic research and practice with art at its core, drawing upon varied disciplines to examine critically cultural issues and artistic concerns.

Student art in bloom this spring at Center for Visual Arts

Media Release

Student Art in Bloom

CLEMSON — Clemson University visual art students will be on full display this spring in the Clemson University Center for Visual Art’s (CVA) gallery spaces.

The second half of the semester features a calendar full of student exhibitions. Both Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Master of Fine Arts (MFA) graduating students present a comprehensive show of work weeks prior to graduation. These exhibits are a special time for visual art students, allowing them to reflect on the transformational experience Clemson has provided and choose pieces that best personify the student’s creative achievements.

BFA senior exhibits and MFA thesis exhibits showcase the culmination of year-long research endeavors. Visual Arts students go through a series of critiques aimed at helping build a body of work of the students’ choosing. The public is invited to join the conversation by attending the artist talks, followed by the artists’ receptions. Join the CVA this spring to see the next generation of art in bloom.

Diminishing Connections (MFA)
March 25, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m.,Lee Gallery

Our existence is experienced through the container of the body and how that relates to others and the world around us. M.J. King investigates this existence through one’s physical embodiment, studying surface of skin and relationships. Looking to the state of being or having been, the body becomes a vessel and a need to preserve that memory and connection emerges. Mary Cooke examines the relationship between humans and nature experienced within the domestic realm. Her labyrinthine amalgamation of manufactured nature and domestic signifiers leads viewers on a circuitous journey through the familiar but unnatural.

Artist Talks and Reception
March 25, 6–8 p.m.

On the Way/Far and Away (MFA)
March 28–April 1, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Lee Gallery

This solo exhibition of MFA thesis work by En Iwamura features a walk-in installation of large-scale ceramic sculptures and drawings that explore interrelated themes of an epic journey. Layered elements of Japanese gardens and theater, as well as Manga and popular culture, combine to heighten the impression of a distant and vast unfamiliar world.

Artist Talks and Reception
April 1, 6-8 p.m.

Inside Out (BFA)
April 4–8, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Lee Gallery

Daily we explore the balance of our inner and outward selves. We interact with our outer surroundings and come in touch with our inner presence. These relationships draw oneself in to explore the intimacy and harmony between interactions, nature and our own. Through drawing, painting, ceramics and photo we have chosen to research these relationships and what type of imprint they will make. Exhibiting artists include Laddie Neil, Alisha Petersen, Summer Stanley, Emily Tucker and Simone Wilson.

Artist Talks and Reception
April 8, 6–8 p.m.

Sempiternal Flesh (BFA)
April 11–15, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Lee Gallery

Flesh is finite, lacking and conditional by nature, though it desires preservation. Human beings share a longing to know what might change if we experience our own flesh in a state of divine sempiternity. As we search for this existence, we encounter the barriers of our temporal flesh and natural tendencies to alleviate realities in perverse behaviors. We, as artists, intend to translate these ideologies to viewers in a way that is relatable, but not necessarily comforting. Allowing the viewer to concoct an individual conclusion is where beauty begins incubation. Exhibiting artists include Libby Davis, Jessie Helmrich, David Lamm, Lexi Mathis.

Artist Talks and Reception
April 15, 6–8 p.m.

Turn it Up to Eleven (BFA)
April 11–15, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Acorn Gallery

An alternative approach to storytelling, Turn it Up to Eleven combines narrative with a critique of contemporary culture. Through a nuanced cast of characters in a fictional setting, the collection offers voyeuristic insight into the grit and glamour of the music industry. A look into the world of these imaginary musicians reveals a lifestyle that has only three rules: Make it passionate. Make it heavy. Turn it up to 11. Work by Victoria Watkins.

Artist Talks, April 15, 6–6:30 p.m., Lee Gallery
Reception, April 15, 6:30–8 p.m., Acorn Gallery

Embrace.Exchange.Connect. (BFA)
April 18–22, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m., Lee Gallery

As artists we are embracing the simplest aspects of life, exchanging ideas across cultures and communities, and connecting people through our work. By taking forgotten moments into our studio practices and elevating them, we are directing focus to the overlooked; embracing the mundane and bringing it to the forefront of the mind. Through an array of disciplines, we encompass these concepts and individually interpret them. Participating artists include Parker Barfield, Caitlin Gurley-Cullen, Rachel Rinker, Torrean Smith and Ella Wesly.

Artist Talks and Reception
April 22, 6–8 p.m.

The exhibition, artist talks and reception are free to the public because of the support given to the Center for Visual Arts.

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The Center for Visual Arts
The Center for Visual Arts (CVA) at Clemson University is where students, visitors and scholars explore contemporary perspectives in art and culture through research, outreach programming and studio practice. With a mission to engage and render visible the creative process, the CVA is a dynamic intellectual and physical environment where art is created, exhibited and interpreted. It educates through academic research and practice with art at its core, drawing upon varied disciplines to examine critically cultural issues and artistic concerns.

Clemson’s signature town-gown event tickets almost sold out, ‘Passport to the Arts,’ 2016

Media Release

Passport SquareCLEMSON — Clemson University and the city of Clemson will host the popular and unique celebration of the arts with the signature town-gown event “Passport to the Arts” 6-9:30 p.m. March 4.

Now, in its sixth year, the always sold out Passport to the Arts continues to be an exciting and popular “Town and Gown” event. Join the Center for Visual Arts (CVA) – Lee Gallery and the Arts Center of Clemson as they host an evening full of art, entertainers, live music, drinks and exceptional food showcased at four different locations.

This year, City and University leaders have embraced this comprehensive event to highlight the incredible local talent housed in the small college town of Clemson, S.C. Currently ranked no. 1 in the nation for “Town Gown Relations” by the Princeton Review, Clemson has supported this event that is truly an exceptional evening showcasing the beauty of this nationally renowned relationship.

Attendees receive a “Passport” at an announced starting location, and stamp their books at several venues as they travel through Clemson on provided transportation. There will be an opportunity to view more than 200 works of art by more than 80 artists. Many of the pieces are on sale and being debuted for the first time in the four gallery venues. Additional highlights from this year’s event will be catering provided by Rick Erwin of Clemson at the Patrick Square Town Center venue.

2016 Passport to the Arts1At each new venue, a new batch of local food, music, art, and creativity will be on display. During Passport to the Arts, entertainment is at every turn — even on the shuttle; local musicians greet participants with their talents as you travel through Clemson. This innovative combination of art and entertainment has made Passport to the Arts the “Town and Gown” event of the year.

Clemson Area Transit (CAT) offers transportation for the Passport to the Arts tour. All shuttles feature entertainment, making the ride to each venue a destination in itself. The locations this year include The Arts Center of Clemson, the Clemson Area Transit facility, the Center for Visual Arts (CVA) – Lee Gallery at Clemson University and Charles K. Cheezem Education Center, home of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) in the Patrick Square Town Center.

Passport the Arts is proud to announce a new partnership with United Methodist Church’s College Ministry, Clemson Wesley. Students of this ministry are offering childcare for children of parents attending the Clemson Passport to the Arts from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Rates are $20 per child with a cap at $50 per family. Contact Abby Barnett at barnet7@g.clemson.edu for more details. Funds received for this service will help support spring break missions trips to the Island of Eleuthera and Miami, Fl.

Only a few tickets for Passport to the Arts are $40 at clemsonpassport.org. The ticket price includes transportation, food, drink and entertainment. This event anticipates another sold out event this year so the public is encouraged to purchase their tickets as soon as possible.

For more information contact CVA Marketing and Public Relations Director, Meredith Mims McTigue, mmims@clemson.edu.

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Event partners and sponsors

The following businesses Passport to the Arts2and individual sponsors made this event possible:

Carolina Real Estate, Charles K. Cheezem Education Center, Clemson Area Transit, Clemson Downs, Clemson Home, Clemson University, Clements Electrical, Inc., Edward Jones-Lee Woods and Jim Hill of Clemson, Greg Shelnutt and Family, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), Patrick Square, PrintSmart, Rick Erwin’s of Clemson, Tom Winkopp Realtor/Developer, LLC, United Methodist Church’s College Ministry, Wells Fargo, The Willis Candela Group of Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC., Wendys.

Exhibition Features Works by Department of Art Faculty

Department of Art Faculty ExhibitClemson University in Clemson, SC, will present the Clemson University Department of Art Faculty Exhibit, featuring works by the Clemson University faculty, Oct. 5 – Nov. 12. Guests are invited to interact with the exhibiting artists and hear about the work during the Artist Talk to take place Oct. 8, at 2:30 p.m. and Oct. 28, at 11 a.m. An exhibit reception will be held on Oct. 8, 6–8pm in the Center for Visual Arts – Lee Gallery, 1–101 Lee Hall.

The participating artists include: printmaker Todd Anderson, sculptor David Detrich, digital media artist David Donar, sculptor Joey Manson, painter Todd McDonald, digital media artist Christina Nguyen Hung, sculptor Greg Shelnutt, functional ceramicist Denise Woodward-Detrich, photographer Anderson Wrangle, drawer Kathleen Thum, and sculptural ceramicist Valerie Zimany.

Relationships dominate our human experience. These experiences shape us into who we are as individuals and how we interact with the rest of our environment as a society. This existence between ourselves and our environment is a constant balancing act of impacting and being impacted by the vast conglomeration of experiences.

Having the faculty’s work accessible in the gallery adds a new dimension to the teaching environment at Clemson University, allowing students and visitors to see into the thoughts of the artists. In this exhibition, the work prompts questions to the viewer of human engagement in natural, societal, and personal environments.

The work of David Donar, Kathleen Thum, Todd Anderson, and Joey Manson turn our view outward into the natural world. David Donar uses a mixture of traditional and new media to explore the landscape before human influence. In his film, he looks at Lake Ouentironk, also known as Lake Simcoe, a fresh water lake north of Toronto, Ontario. Through the use of watercolor painting he creates “vibrant and moving picture to capture the various seasons as well as the fluid changes of water, land, and sky” to render for the viewer an area as it was over four-hundred years ago.

Interested in the human species’ relationship to the earth, Kathleen Thum examines complex relationships between nature and humans through the use of intricate line. The tubules are given a life of their own as she examines how they might be affected by pressure, gravity, fluids, and gases. In her current work, she specifically examines the relationship a species has with its environment, and how environmental changes cause species to flourish or perish. In the case of the relationship humans have with Earth’s natural resources, she asks: “Are we, as a human species, at our maximum Carrying Capacity in regards to the earth’s natural resources?”

Through the work of Todd Anderson, the viewer is challenged to make a connection between themselves as part of the human population and the greater environment. Where Thum studies natural resources, Anderson makes a study of human impact on the environment by documenting the retreating glaciers of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park in Alberta, Canada and Montana, US. Over the course of his documentation he has seen 25 glaciers reduced to 18 since 2010. Expected to disappear by 2020, Anderson seeks to use his field data of sketches, watercolors, and photographs to create original fine art woodblock prints. He hopes The Last Glacier “will serve as a historical record of this momentous time of change within the park and offer unique insights into the larger issue of climate change”.

Joey Manson works with industrial materials to make large scale sculptures that embody organic qualities. These abstracted representations of our present environments, technological and natural, become “an exploration of our built, social, and environmental constructs”, says Manson.

Following is an examination of our social environment by Valerie Zimany, Greg Shelnutt, Anderson Wrangle, and David Detrich. With the use of sculpture and ceramics, they pull apart and clash together cultural elements.

Valerie Zimany’s bright colors and imagery clash on the softer surfaces of her ceramic sculptures, where she uses these “forced relationships” to “question compatibility.” After graduating with a BFA from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, Zimany went on to study at Kanazawa College of Art as a “Fellow” in Kanazawa, Japan. With a foot in these two backgrounds, Zimany uses her work to study how these cultures intersect. “In my current work,” she says, “I visually examine complex relationships between the East and West, nature and technology, and intimate and public worlds.”

The work of Greg Shelnutt has a narrative quality inviting the viewer to “question accepted notions about culture.” His use of materials such as metal and wood give a rustic quality and depth to his work. The storytelling these objects provide shifts between subtlety or forwardness. He couples recognizable objects in American culture with strong phrases, sparking conversation with his viewers. “As an academic artist living in South Carolina,” he says, “–I feel that part of my obligation to the profession is to engage with the broad public.”

Similarly, Anderson Wrangle uses black and white photography to document a moment that will forever impact our history.

David Detrich describes what drives his work as “paradoxical tensions that are created when oppositions find a common ground.” Using color wheels and swatch groups, he creates an interesting narrative of color and poetry. Detrich asks, “How is aesthetic taste derived?” Is it experienced intuitively or learned by an external force? Contrasting commercial design with high art practices, the viewer is invited to discover what drives their taste.

Todd McDonald, Denise WoodwardDetrich, and Christina Nguyen-Hung turn the viewers attention from the outside world of nature and culture, and into the more intimate realm of home and self.

Through his vibrant paintings, Todd McDonald explores how humans perceive their environment and how this perception has evolved to include digital media as a lens. He catalogues the change in perception through painting, one of the original lenses for which humans recorded their environment. McDonald says, “As methods of image making evolve we are confronted with new visual qualities that affect the way we see and consequently create models of ‘our world’.”

Fascinated with the idea of utility, Denise Woodward-Detrich investigates the interaction between functional objects and our day-to-day activities. In a study of balance, her beautifully glazed ceramics take on interesting shapes as they equally embody functional, visual, and tactile intrigue.

Christina Nguyen-Hung zooms the scope of her study to microscopic levels. As an interdisciplinary artist who combines electronic and biological media, she is interested in thinking about “material relationships between the individual (human body) and its environment in new ways.” To explore these relationships, Nguyen-Hung uses a common chicken egg and its mutable properties to study how common household items can transform the egg through what she describes as “little kitchen science.”

Lee Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday.

The exhibition, artist talks and reception are free to the public because of the generous support given to the Center for Visual Arts.

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About the Center for Visual Arts

The Center for Visual Arts (CVA) at Clemson University is where students, visitors and scholars explore contemporary perspectives in art and culture through research, outreach programming and studio practice. With a mission to engage and render visible the creative process, the CVA is a dynamic intellectual and physical environment where art is created, exhibited and interpreted. It educates through academic research and practice with art at its core, drawing upon varied disciplines to examine critically cultural issues and artistic concerns.

Art exhibition showcases Clemson alumna at Brooks Center

By Thomas Hudgins, Brooks Center for the Performing Arts

Hilary Siber Headshot

CLEMSON — A Clemson alumna’s artworks will be presented by the Clemson University Center for Visual Arts in the lobby of the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts this fall, from Tuesday, Sept. 8, through Dec. 4.

The seeds of Hilary Siber’s love for art and landscape were planted early. As a child in Ohio, Siber remembers drawing trees and solving jigsaw puzzles. Flash-forward several years, and she found herself exercising those same artistic muscles pursuing a degree in architectural design at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

“I was fortunate enough to work in the design field for several years after graduation, but visual problem-solving soon became a puzzle that pulled me toward creating fine art,” she said. “I am forever challenged by the visual mode of communication. It seems to elude language while simultaneously creating a new one.”

She enrolled in Clemson’s Master of Fine Arts program in the art department. There, she “began to understand that creating paintings is two-fold: I am putting a puzzle together while presenting one to my viewers.”

Those artistic puzzles will be on display with her new exhibition, “Shifting Ground.”

Shifting Ground opens on the heels of Siber’s thesis exhibition, which, she said, “reflected on the grief and emotion of the death of my father.”

In contrast, this oil-on-canvas collection focuses on “universal landscapes that suggest unknown outcomes, unstable grounds and shifting panoramas.” Her landscapes are not literal, but rather subjective interpretations that she believes “model accurate representations of the rational and irrational landscapes of our emotions, experiences and intellect.”

Siber’s work has been exhibited both regionally and internationally: at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston; the Nelson Gallery in in Lexington, Virginia; and the Art Museum of Nanjing University in China, along with several other places in South Carolina and North Carolina.

Susan Kaplar, business manager at the Brooks Center and current Bachelor of Fine Arts student has admired Siber’s work for awhile.

When A Body Breaks - Oil on Canvas by Hilary Siber

She and Denise Woodward-Detrich, director of the Lee Gallery at Clemson, approached Siber several months ago with the idea of a solo exhibition in the Brooks Center lobby.

“We’ve seen her style and we thought anything she does will be a good fit for our audience,” Kaplar said. The exhibition includes works created since January, including two pieces originally from her master’s thesis exhibition and now on loan from private collections.

When patrons attend the exhibition, Kaplar hopes it will be a time for deep self-reflection.

“I hope it will encourage people to look within themselves, to engage in inner contemplation.”

Siber’s wish is that people see an opportunity to consider both the here-and-now and the everlasting.

“I hope that viewing these paintings conjures up a consideration for the temporal,” she said. “Perhaps by contemplating our finitude and flux, we are more apt to consider what is infinite and never-changing.”

Shifting Ground is open from 1 to 5 p.m. on weekdays and before all Brooks Center performances. An artist talk will be held before the 7:30 p.m. performance of the National Dance Company of Siberia at 6 p.m. Oct. 29, followed by a reception at 6:30 p.m.