Published on 11/2/2018.
The College of the Redwoods Creative Arts Gallery will host the Art Department’s 2018 Art Faculty & Staff Exhibition from Nov. 13, 2018 to Jan. 31, 2019. There will be a public reception for the artists on Tuesday, Nov. 13 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Participating artists include Erica Botkin, Willa Briggs, Mina Cohen, Ben Funke, Cynthia Hooper, Ruth Jensen, Mary Mallahan, Natalia Margulis, Hannah Meredith, Dean Smith, Shannon Sullivan, and Dave Zdrazil. Work exhibited includes video, photography, paintings, sculptures, mixed media and ceramic.
The 2018 Art Faculty & Staff Exhibition reflects the diverse interests, concepts, and media that CR’s art faculty and staff investigate as a part of their studio practice. This work demonstrates the skill, commitment, and responsiveness to contemporary cultural issues that meaningful and relevant art making demands. This exhibition affords an opportunity to learn from these practicing professionals, and discover how they integrate their individual artistic inquiries into classroom instruction.
Included in this exhibition are two video projects by Art professors Natalia Margulis and Cynthia Hooper. Margulis will exhibit a video exposé entitled Eric, inspired by conversations generated by the ‘Me Too’ movement. This project looks at generational divides that define and influence perceptions of consent, gender roles, and reciprocity in human relationships. Cynthia Hooper’s in-progress interdisciplinary video project examines the infrastructure along California’s Sacramento River, and how this highly mediated river system will require yet more modifications to offset the forthcoming threats of species extinction and climate change.
Art professor Shannon Sullivan's sculptural ceramic wall disks interpret agricultural landscapes, shifting geologic boundaries, and migrating oceanic phenomenon. Sullivan reimagines human intervention in the landscape by using aerial and microscopic imagery as a point of interpretive departure. Instructor Willa Briggs’ mixed media work depicts figures made with printmaking, stencils, fabric, and collage. These rough-hewn figures tell stories of ordinary people and also search for the iconic moments that define our humanity.
Instructor Dean Smith works with oil pastel on steel and creates still-lifes that reference death and redemption as well as the symbolism of western art historical traditions. Instructor Mary Mallahan’s ceramic work also interprets the vast history and rich traditions of functional ceramic forms. Instructor Dave Zdrazil uses local natural materials as a way of connecting his ceramic work to the environment and investigates the unique chemistry of Humboldt county soils and minerals as a source of inspiration.
The Creative Arts Gallery at College of the Redwoods is located on the Eureka Main Campus, North Entrance and is open Monday and Tuesday 12 to 4 pm and by appointment. The gallery will be closed from Dec 14, 2018 through Jan 21, 2019, for the winter academic break. For more information, please call the Art Department office at (707) 476-4559.
Featured Photo: Natalia Margulis, Eric, digital video still, 2018