Bradbury Gallery hosts Fall 2010 Senior Exhibition Dec. 9-18

November 29, 2010 -- Arkansas State University’s Bradbury Gallery will present the Fall 2010 Senior Exhibition featuring graduating students from the Arkansas State University Department of Art on Thursday, Dec. 9, at 5 p.m. The exhibiting artists are Thea Austin, Shannon Lamb, Leila Loven, Meagan Rice, Mihaela Savu, and Amanda Blake Willett. The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, runs through Saturday, Dec. 18. The Bradbury Gallery, in ASU’s Fowler Center, is located at 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro.

Austin, who is from Trumann, will earn her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in art education and painting in May 2011. As a student at ASU, she has contributed several works of art and her artistic expertise to several charity organizations such as the Northeast Arkansas Humane Society and the Jonesboro Downtown Lions Club. She is also a member of the Arkansas Art Educators Association.

She describes her non-objective, textural work as “stories.” She enjoys the use of many mediums which she applies to wood panels along with various components. Austin says of her work, “I like to depict moments in my life with the use of texture as a metaphor to life events. History is a huge part of my being— not just in my past, but my family’s past, and my friends’ pasts. Age is the key component to my works.” 

After graduation she plans on teaching and continuing with her career as a practicing artist, and she plans to further her education in the master’s degree program at ASU. 

Originally from Texas, Lamb came to ASU with an Indian Ambassador Scholarship in 2005. She will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree this December with an emphasis in sculpture. Her work has been seen in the ASU Juried Student Exhibition in the Fine Arts Center Gallery in 2008, 2009, and 2010.  She also has exhibited several pieces in Paragould at the Art and a Stroll Exhibition in 2008.

In her artist’s statement, she says, “I create surreal human forms as an expression of dreams and emotions. Most of my pieces are, in some form or another, portraits. These forms are not necessarily of me but of the world from my perspective. That world is not always realistic, but usually finds some basis in the natural forms of trees and other plants. These forms and their relation to nature are important to me because the ability of natural elements to change, grow, and develop.  As an individual, change has not always been easy for me to accept, so it’s though my art that I try to cope with these concepts.”

She intends to continue making sculpture using wood and ceramics and to work with other forms of artistic media, including illustration.

Loven, who was born in Wyoming, will graduate next May with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in art education and a studio emphasis is in printmaking and photography. She is currently an active member of the ASU Art Education Club and served as the secretary during the 2009 -2010 academic year. She is also a member of the National Art Educator Association (NAEA) and has attended the Arkansas Art Education (AAE) conference for the past two years.

Loven explains her work by saying, “When I was a child I wanted to be a photographer for the National Geographic magazine. I tend to lean towards the documentary style of photography.  I like to take photos of things and people as they are at that moment in time, to preserve them for future moments.”  She continues, “With my photos, I want people now and in the future to remember.” Loven currently resides in Jonesboro.

Rice was born in Jonesboro and will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in art education in May of 2011. She received an ASU Art Department Scholarship and an Arkansas Academic Merit Award in 2006. She has earned commissions and awards for her artwork and has been an active member of the Art Student Union and the Art Education Club, attending the Arkansas Art Education (AAE) conference in 2010.

She explains her approach to her subject matter, in discussing one of her dry medium drawings titled Head, by saying “Music is a very big part of my life, and I often connect it with my artwork. An instrument, whether it be a guitar, piano, or violin, has so many pieces and shapes to it that it makes for a wonderful composition. Yet hardly anyone ever really sees the small parts that make an instrument work. In this piece, I wanted to capture the beauty of the mechanisms that make a mandolin sound like it should. The intricate gears and the reflective tuning pegs made for an eye-opening piece.”

After graduation Rice plans to teach and comments, “I have chosen this career path because art can make a difference in our world, just as it has in my life. I hope that I can stir an interest in my students and an appreciation for art.”

Savu was born in Bucharest, Romania. She emigrated to Israel in 1988, where she practiced as a physician before coming to the United States in 1991. She now lives in Jonesboro and works as a cardiologist while studying fine art at ASU.

Her work has been exhibited in numerous locations including the Watson Gallery in Johnson City, Texas, and The Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, Colorado.  She has also shown in the ASU Juried Student Exhibition in the Fine Arts Center Gallery in 2008 and 2009, when she won a juror’s award and again in 2010.  Two of her artworks have been published in volume six of “Studio Visit”, which is a series of juried artists’ books. She is the co-founder and co-sponsor of “Lifeline to Art,” a popular annual event benefiting ASU art students. She will earn her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a studio emphasis in printmaking and sculpture.

Savu, who is also a poet, writes about her art by saying, “I often incorporate found objects in my work; they have their independent history, they carry the burden of the past, they know time, they are not made but are rather the result of being/becoming.” In another statement, Savu said, “I use my art as a research tool of the world around me. Trapped in the present – between the past (memories) and the future (imagination) – we fear irreversibility.”

Willett was born in Memphis and moved to Jonesboro at the age of five. Her career as an artist began at seven, when she won first prize in a regional art contest. She maintained a strong interest in art and received a full scholarship from the Department of Art to attend ASU. While at the university, she was the recipient of another Department of Art scholarship, was on the Dean’s list in 2009 and 2010, and for the last two years worked as the studio assistant in the sculpture department.

Willett was included in the ASU Juried Student Exhibition in the Fine Arts Center Gallery in 2007 when juror Helena Reckitt, senior curator of programs at the Powerplant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto, selected her work for Best in Show. Her work was chosen again in 2009 by Phaedra Siebert, curator for special projects for the Arkansas Arts Center, and in 2010 she again won Best in Show, this time selected by Jed Jackson, professor of painting at the University of Memphis. Willett’s work can be seen in the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Arkansas Chapter registry.

She says in her artist’s statement, “My work is a journal. My life, thoughts, emotions, dreams, and memories are there to observe. I find that in order to be an artist, one must be honest with oneself and explore one’s own life experience. Truth is powerful, and my own truth has become my focus.” She will complete her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree this December and plans to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree next fall.

The exhibition opens on Thursday, Dec. 9, at 5 p.m. and continues through Saturday, Dec. 18. Gallery hours are 12 noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and 2 -5 p.m. on Sunday. The gallery is closed on Monday. The exhibition is free and open to the public.  For additional information, contact Les Christensen
(lchristensen@astate.edu), director, the Bradbury Gallery at (870) 972-2567.

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