ASHLAND – From fiber art to photography and from sculpture to sound installation, the wide range of artwork on display in the exhibit at Ashland University’s Coburn Gallery is intriguing.
Stepping into the entry of the gallery, the viewer will see several of Priscilla Roggenkamp’s serene landscape paintings juxtaposed with one of Keith Dull’s comic-book style relief printmaking pieces, which are full of patterns, geometric shapes, symbols and vibrant colors.
Art department chair Dan McDonald’s large metal sculptures dominate the center of the gallery.
The one thing that unites the all pieces in the Art and Design Department Faculty Exhibition is that each work is created by one of the five professional visual artists who also research and teach at AU.
“We all are professional artists in our own areas outside of our teaching. We all exhibit nationally as well,” said Cynthia Petry, who is both director of the gallery and one of the faculty artists.
Roggenkamp has work on display in Chicago, Dull has art on display in Cleveland and Petry has work in an exhibit in Athens. But each of the artists selected some of their recent work to display in the Coburn Gallery for the annual exhibit, which opens with a reception 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday and runs through Feb. 9.
The reception is free and open to the public. Located in the university’s Center for the Arts at 331 College Ave., The Coburn Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 12 to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Gallery admission is free.
“This exhibit allows our students to see our finished work and our own creative process, and they get to ask us about our work, whereas usually it’s us asking them about their work,” Petry explained. “For freshman, it’s really interesting to see what your professor creates. The processes may not be ones that they’ve not been exposed to and that they may be able to take in a higher level studio course.”
For seniors, the exhibit is an opportunity to see how a show is put together and installed and to think about ways to keep making and showing art after graduation.
Petry explores gender identity through found object collages that incorporate old photos and sewn paper. Her fellow faculty member, Michael Bird, evokes similar themes of female body image and gender expectations using a completely different medium. His black-and-white photography of nude women is digitally accented by bright red lines that look like laser beams cutting through the women’s bodies.
While Petry loves to talk about the ideas behind her work, Bird prefers to let his pieces stand on their own without any explanation.
Bird’s other piece in the show cannot be seen at all, but it’s unlikely to be missed. The sound installation can be heard throughout the gallery but is particularly striking when the listener is viewing Bird’s photography. The sound piece includes some spoken word intersperse through ominous-sounding noises. Petry said the piece leaves her straining to make out the words, feeling like she should be able to pick them up but not quite able to understand them.
Roggenkamp has far more traditional work in the show, including gouache painted landscapes in both representational and abstract styles and woven fiber pieces depicting traditional patterns. Her weaving was funded through a grant from the Ohio Arts Council.
“For students, it’s good to see there are so many ways to make your mark,” Petry said. “You just have to find a vehicle, whatever that is, for your own work.”
