Whether the UM Art Department - cough cough - I mean the UM School of Art (recent name change) has been developing their grad program or if they just got lucky this year with some really great students , I dont know, but
regardless this group really nailed it. This show has a great selection of wonderful and well-done works across many mediums.
Walking though the door, one is presented with two abstract doll figures hung on the wall, made from fabric, cheese cloth and clothing tags. These two dolls made by the excellent artist,
Lisa Jarrett, are both rich in physical appearance and in content making for a strong welcome.
Kensuke Yamada
My vision was then filled by two large hand built ceramic pieces by Eva Champagne and Kensuke Yamada. A bulbous flower in lime green and red topped with glitter by Champagne. While, Yamada's eight foot tall armless figure towers over the space watching with a steady gaze. The simple use of pattern and repetition interacts gracefully with the scale of this work.
On the wall next to Yamada's figure, is a lovely painting or is it? In closer inspection one will find the surface is stitched together on a stretcher using pieces of wedding gown material, and fabric (some with imagery and some without). Created by Cathryn Snugg and titled "After Expectation" this Mixed Media work includes images of a bride, a few bear scenes, a deer's rump, and a drawn progression of two deer copulating (my favorite part).
Two other pieces that demand attention are two figurative paintings. First off, is Emily Brown's piece titled "Siblings" it is a diptych with a figure on each panel. The mark making and layering effects are subtle, emotive and gorgeous. Textures made by carving and hammering into the wood surface top off the subtle color scheme and expressive handling of the figures.
Emily Brown Detail
Last but not least is Rebecca Weed's oil painting, "Border Sleep" it is composed in one of my favorite layouts - a dense corner with the rest being empty space. This is the first fully painted piece I have seen of Weed's. Generally her pieces are drawn on to a translucent, tan colored wax paper fastened to the wall with the bottom edge unattached which allows the drawing to move and have an eerie spacial/atmospheric quality. In her drawings the characters seem to be more of a memory of the figure. In her drawings the edges of her figures are flowing and filled with movement. In this oil painting it appears she attempts to turn her figurative drawing style into a painting, however I believe it is not as successful as her drawings. The eerie spacial quality is replaced by a flat layer of paint and the figures seem a bit more solid and static. Nonetheless it is still a great painting.
Rebecca Weed
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