Jesse VandenBergh

Thesis

Welcome Back Show

            The Mason Gross Welcome Back show presented an array of diverse imagery through an assortment of media. Perhaps the centerpiece of it all was the late Lynda Craig’s exhibition entitled Intimate Observations, which showcased her works from 1997, just five years before her untimely death of a brain tumor. Craig’s work was comprised of oil painting of female nudes, mythology and landscapes. One of her pieces caught my attention over the rest due to the interesting backstory. After her tumor operation she lost her motor skills. To keep her mind sharp and her artistic creativity keen, her son would bring home golf balls for her to decorate. Craig covered them in wax and thread and presented them as little works of art. I am not easily intrigued by abstract art, but I found that understanding the piece was contingent on knowing how and why the decorated golf balls came to be.

            Another abstract piece was Timothy Warner’s More Than a Feeling/Don’t Look Back. It was a large projection of two white flames flickering. While there may have been a personal motivation or meaning behind this piece, I found it to be aesthetically simple, yet hard to interpret. Although abstraction is not my style, I find that the beauty of it lies in the endless amounts of interpretation that can be made. This piece did not evoke any sort of meaning for me.

            Alan Prazniak’s Dreamgirl is a three dimensional puzzle of an Egyptian Sphinx-like head covered in oil and decorated with large, garish earrings. I saw this as a commentary on the life-styles and aspirations of the generic little girl. The piece is entitled Dreamgirl. It is made primarily of a puzzle and earrings, which are two things that little girls with big dreams would possess. Little girls are known to play dress-up and wearing their mother’s clothes and earrings. It is an imaginative way for them to play with what they aspire to be/do when they grow up. Puzzles are another aspect of childhood and I remember my sister voraciously doing puzzle after puzzle. I do not know if this was the artist’s intention, but Dreamgirl was able to get me thinking about my own interpretations of it, and what it made me think of from my own childhood. I believe that is the purpose of an effective art piece.

            Tyson Washburn’s exhibit was entitled Centennial Towers, Four Floors and it was comprised of four photographs from the inside of a building being constructed. I found this piece to be very interesting. Engineering and architecture are often overlooked as art forms. Washburn’s art captures the process of a pending work of art within a finished work of art. At a quick glance, the work is seemingly simplistic but when thought about, there are many potential meanings.

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