Senior art students present ‘Entelechy’

Seven senior art students sponsored an artist reception for the public in Shipman Library on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Janene Dusseau, Erick Sala, Erika Squanda, Kristina Martin, Tim Schlemmer, Kristen Smith, and Sydney

Wlodyka have their art in three galleries: Nicolay Heritage Room, Stubnitz Conference Room, and Valade Art Gallery – all in Shipman – in a collaborative show called “Entelechy.”

The reception marked the midway point for the show. Parents, students, and other members of the general public were in attendance to enjoy refreshments and speak with each artist.

“Entelechy” will be on display until March 17. The galleries are open Monday thru Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday 10 a.m. until 4 p.m.

Nicolay Heritage Room

Janene Dusseau

Dusseau’s work is inspired by her interest in chemistry and “the wonder behind it.” She includes caffeine, aspirin, and ethanol (alcohol) to suggest the type of contemporary addictions people have.

Brazing, which “uses a torch, metal filler, and capillary action to connect metal,” is her main technique. According to Dusseau, the method is based largely on chemistry.

Dusseau’s work has metal orbs suspended from the ceiling with thin lines and is connected to metal bars. Pictures of each substance are suspended in the middle of each atom-like orb.

Erick Sala

Sala said in his artist statement that he has been captivated by video game art since he was a child, so his work reflects his passion to create new worlds and characters.

“Game art merges the freedom of painting the representation of sculpture while adding a new level of movement and interaction,” he said in his statement.

Sala’s display has one sculpture made from acrylic and terracotta, and two computers which feature a slideshow of three-dimensional images he created digitally.

The 3D images are first sketched and scanned to Photoshop where they begin to take on their personalities. The final step is digitally sculpting the details of each using ZBrush.

Stubnitz Conference Room

Erika Squanda

Squanda’s art is grounded in her religious faith and to show that her “faith is the ideal relationship others can have with God.” She describes this relationship as a “whimsical dance,” which is  reflected in each acrylic painting.

God is a central part of Squanda’s life, so art serves as a constant reminder of her relationship.

“I want to create positive imagery, so I usually only paint on good days,” she said in her artist statement.

Squanda’s show features netting that hangs from the ceiling to represent the “soft heavens” and paintings which reflect different scenes of her relationship with God.

Valade Art Gallery

Kristina Martin

Martin’s work “consists of human figures which express empowerment through evidence of scarification, intentionally truncated limbs, and abstracted shapes and forms.”

Each piece is featured on a frayed piece of canvas and hangs from a tree limb. Martin uses darker paint colors to display faceless women who have been beaten and battered.

She also uses a combination of techniques “from traditional brushes and knives, to box cutters and screwdrivers” which allow her to work through the emotion of each piece.

“My images give life to many whose stories are untold,” Martin said in her statement.

Tim Schlemmer

Schlemmer’s art is divided into two displays: “After the Fall” and “Spacial Experimentation.” In his artist statement he said his work is a “three dimensional manifestation of a fictional story.”

The “story” is complete with characters and their surrounding environments. Although there are suggestions for each character’s narrative, Schlemmer said he has left some of the details open for interpretation.

“Spacial Experimentation” has suspended sculptures created with wire and melted plastic; “After the Fall” has a number of dark pieces with little to no lighting. The differences between the two suggest the struggle between good and evil.

Kristen Smith

Smith’s intention is to explore the “formation and retrieval of memory, along with the visual system,” she said in her artist statement. She wants to tap into the central nervous system, which allows people to process the visual and form thoughts on life.

Smith’s own vision of the world is shown through her work, and she hopes to inspire wonder and amazement in her audience.

Her work is mostly acrylic paintings with mixed media on wood and canvas. She uses different colors for each scene to create a “unique, complex, yet unrestricted atmosphere.”

Sydney Wlodyka

Wlodyka provides a blend of paintings and photographs which are captured “moments” that eventually transpire into memories.

Her paintings are representative of the time it takes to “freeze a memory.” All of Wlodyka’s memories are from others’ lives; only one of her paintings, “My Grandma,” reflects her own memory. Each one is a portrait of one individual or a group of people, which she feels inspire memories.

The photography “becomes an exaggeration of the moment in time.” Each piece is blurred to suggest the way in which time seems to “fly by.”