By: Emily Pate Staff Writer
When first stepping into Campbell Hall’s Cannon Gallery, my gaze was immediately grabbed by the plastic forms of Sung Eun Park’s piece titled “No One Will Take Your Crown.”
Made from many different elements, including a child’s wheelbarrow, plastic wine glasses, and Korean accessories called Norigae, this brightly colored work of art seems transported from a more fantastical world.
This work is just one of many that are part of the exhibit, called the “Art Faculty Biennial,” currently on display in Cannon Gallery. Each artist on display has their own unique and fascinating style.
In contrast to the repurposed and colorful elements of Park’s art, Ian Factor’s emotive charcoal portraits are realistic, and convey great depth in the greyscale shades that this medium allows.
Jodie Garrison gives her black and white portraits exuberantly patterned backgrounds, while Paula Portiga Booth works on birch boards, combining patterns painted in acrylic with textural photographs.
All of the artists are Western Faculty members, some of which also have their names on the signboard that lists the Art Department’s faculty directly across from the Gallery, on the other side of Campbell’s front door.
This exhibit is a chance for students to see what their teachers have created. The gallery context gives a new relationship between teacher and student as artists, one only possible outside of the classroom.
It also gives students an opportunity to look at their teacher’s art as they might look at any artist’s work, and also acts as a showcase for the skills of Western’s faculty.
Though the Cannon Galley is not a classroom, it provides the chance to learn more about art and those who create it.
