The Pearl Conard Gallery at The Ohio State University Mansfield (OSU-M) is exhibiting the work of six graduate students from the ceramics department at main campus. The exhibition, “co-e-val” runs through Feb. 7; the opening reception took place Friday evening.
OSU-M students, faculty, and community members attended the opening alongside the six artists. Works ranged from functional pieces such as mugs to figurative sculpture. In addition to static pieces one artist, Jeni Hansen Gard, created an interactive project that incorporates local farmers and community members.
“This show is really an opportunity for our students. Normally they don’t get to interact with upperclass and graduate students, so bringing these artists from main campus up here allows for that,” said Kate Shannon, Assistant Professor of Art.
Gard’s project, The Dish Set Challenge, is highly interactive. Five members of the Mansfield community in addition to Gard were given a handmade ceramic dish set to use until the end of the exhibition.
Gard first did a similar challenge herself. For thirty days she exclusively ate from a single set of dishes she made herself. The experience was surprising in some ways. For example she discovered that restaurants were often reticent to participate for fear of violating health codes. Gard expected to tire of the project, but at the end of the thirty days she was sad to end it.
She followed her first challenge with a second one, this time she partnered with her husband. Finally she decided to branch out and incorporate the community in this third challenge.
She decided to ask the participants to commit to just one meal a day on the dishes, but most of the participants have decided to try to follow her example and use the stoneware exclusively. The participants will take daily photographs of their meals and post them to this shared blog: http://dishsetchallenge.wordpress.com/
To launch the project Gard prepared a special dinner which was served to the participants in the center of the gallery during the opening reception. She sourced all of the ingredients for the meal locally, driving around Northeast Ohio for two days.
“The concept of it is so unique. The idea of having your own personalized dishes first of all, for me as a woman is like a dream. Plus instagram has become a way to share our lives,” said Belinda Flucker, participant, “I’ll be carrying this around with me, I think that will open people up to the arts.”
Gard’s original project was also a reflection on waste and environmental concerns as well as health. She actually left restaurants that would not put food directly in her dishes. In the case of this project connecting to the local agriculture was integral to her vision for the experience.
Participants agreed that the challenge could potentially impact their food choices. “I can’t put a McDonald’s wrapper in the bowl or on the plate,” said Flucker. “You have this beautiful artwork, you don’t want to put junk in it.”
Gard’s isn’t the only work that is particularly personal.
Gunyoung Kim is an international student from Korea. Living in a new country is integrated in her university experience in an emotional way, thus she has decided to make all of her work about her emotional journey.
“I make bodies or fragments of a body, disfigured bodies,” said Kim. “ Making bodies and faces shows emotion. For me this shows my inner thoughts and emotions that I’m holding in myself.”
One piece, “Self portrait with mice,” depicts an oversized head patinaed in black, red and grey sitting on a stool roughly five feet from an oversized mouse leaning forward off of the edge of a smaller stool. The work is meant to depict Kim’s fear of mice.
Natalia Arbelaez believes the cellular memory of her ancestors emerges as she sculpts her figures. Her pieces are also figurative, but instead of single figures, she depicts people in multiples ranging from a pair of emerging heads to dozens of figures stacked upon one another in an obelisk shape. Arbelaez’s works are untitled.
The exhibition will be held Friday, Jan. 10 – Friday, Feb. 7. Regular gallery hours are Monday and Wednesday, 11:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m., and Friday, 11:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.
The Pearl Conard Art Gallery is located at 145 Ovalwood Hall at The Ohio State University at Mansfield, 1760 University Drive, Mansfield.
“This show is really an opportunity for our students. Normally they don’t get to interact with upperclass and graduate students, so bringing these artists from main campus up here allows for that,” said Kate Shannon, Assistant Professor of Art.
