| Cardinal Stritch University Faculty Art Show Northwestern Mutual Art Gallery 6801 N. Yates Road, Milwaukee. 414-410-4105 Through Sept. 8, 2006 |
The Northwestern Mutual Art Gallery in the Joan
Steele Stein Center for Communication
Studies/Fine Arts on the Cardinal Stritch campus is
a relentlessly post-modern 1987 structure fronted
by a concrete plaza. I stop to study a Richard Taylor
sculpture, and wonder how it came to be damaged.
A man in a red shirt and jeans, is scrubbing the
concrete, trying to remove some graffiti, which, at
first glance, appeared to be a pleasant extension of
Taylor’s soaring abstraction. “Vandals did this,”
says the scrubber, adding that the sculpture was
also ding-ed by a snow-removal machine.
Steele Stein Center for Communication
Studies/Fine Arts on the Cardinal Stritch campus is
a relentlessly post-modern 1987 structure fronted
by a concrete plaza. I stop to study a Richard Taylor
sculpture, and wonder how it came to be damaged.
A man in a red shirt and jeans, is scrubbing the
concrete, trying to remove some graffiti, which, at
first glance, appeared to be a pleasant extension of
Taylor’s soaring abstraction. “Vandals did this,”
says the scrubber, adding that the sculpture was
also ding-ed by a snow-removal machine.
| Sharon Van Ruiswyk, Images of Infinity and Solitude, 2006 Bubinga wood, brass, deer hide, linen thread, Rives Heavyweight Tan paper. Structure: Coptic (Ethiopian) binding with Greek Headbands. Text: S. A. Giesfeldt (based on the work of Jorge Luis Borges). 4 x 5 in. |
It may have been accidental, but the decision to exhibit the
metalsmithing pieces of adjunct instructor, Hai-Chi Jihn, near
Sellar’s paintings, gives viewers an opportunity to compare
their distinctly different styles of art-making. Her pierced and
cut works, some with creamy enameled surfaces, are delicate
as lace, and way beyond mere objects. Jihn, who has a BS in
Textile Design from Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taiwan, and
a UW-Milwaukee MFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry Design, is
beginning her third year as a Stritch educator, and she firmly
believes that art educators should develop their personal
body of work in order to enhance their teaching skills. Jihn
has lots to say. A Lady Would Never Leave Home Without Her
Gloves, and eight mirrors, speaks volumes by combining the
fragility of mirrors with organza gloves mounted on a wall
painted with an understated oval. An enormous ring, with a
center stone fashioned from polyurethane and set in a simple
gold plated band, glows with Papal authority. She’ll be
exhibiting her carefully researched work at Sheboygan’s John
Michael Kohler Arts Center in January of ’07.
- Judith Ann Moriarty
Ms. Moriarty has an degree in Art Education from Carroll
College and is a frequent contributor to local publications.
Comments for the writer? Email
comments@susceptibletoimages.com
metalsmithing pieces of adjunct instructor, Hai-Chi Jihn, near
Sellar’s paintings, gives viewers an opportunity to compare
their distinctly different styles of art-making. Her pierced and
cut works, some with creamy enameled surfaces, are delicate
as lace, and way beyond mere objects. Jihn, who has a BS in
Textile Design from Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taiwan, and
a UW-Milwaukee MFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry Design, is
beginning her third year as a Stritch educator, and she firmly
believes that art educators should develop their personal
body of work in order to enhance their teaching skills. Jihn
has lots to say. A Lady Would Never Leave Home Without Her
Gloves, and eight mirrors, speaks volumes by combining the
fragility of mirrors with organza gloves mounted on a wall
painted with an understated oval. An enormous ring, with a
center stone fashioned from polyurethane and set in a simple
gold plated band, glows with Papal authority. She’ll be
exhibiting her carefully researched work at Sheboygan’s John
Michael Kohler Arts Center in January of ’07.
- Judith Ann Moriarty
Ms. Moriarty has an degree in Art Education from Carroll
College and is a frequent contributor to local publications.
Comments for the writer? Email
comments@susceptibletoimages.com
| Hai-Chi Jihn, A Woman Would Never Leave Home Without Her Gloves, and eight mirrors." |
| Copyright Art History Chicks, 2006. Contact Us |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
 |
| | | | | | |
The Faculty Art Show, an annual event reinstated after an absence of several years, features the work of nine
faculty members whose efforts include paintings, metals, mixed media works, ceramics, handmade books
and film. In all due respect to individuals everywhere who labor with students, I know from experience that it’s
tough teaching while trying to produce personal art worth looking at, and much of this exhibit smacks of
educators too beat to bring innovative ideas to fruition. The concepts cobbled from summer travels to Europe
in collages by Teri Wagner, and to Mexico by Tim Abler in black and white photographs of Oaxaca, seem
more like after-thoughts than complete thoughts. Wagner combines various European archetypal images
with images from daily life, but the mix results in an overload of symbolism. Abler’s photographs of Oaxaca’s
“Day of the Dead” are decent enough, and even though his artist statement says the area is a “destination
rather than simply a place to visit,” I found myself feeling more like a visitor than someone drawn into the
rituals. Another painting, Mystery Pond, by Maureen Chavez-Kruger, who teaches entry-level painting, is on
loan from the children’s section of the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. Her cartoony acrylic scenario of birds,
frogs and other critters may be appropriate for the center’s children’s section, but I’ve sat on the banks of the
“Mystery Pond” at Audubon many times and I fail to see the “mystery” in this particular work. It’s just too cute.
But there are some notable works in the show, especially the small, handmade books constructed by Sharon
Giesfeldt-van Ruiswyk, who firmly roots her lovely work in an Art History MFA. In going beyond “books as
containers for information,” this artist has, over many years, collected snippets of texts (from Borges, for
instance), and re-imagined them as hand-bound, mini-curiosities to be approached with a sense of wonder.
It’s a frightening thought, but perhaps the time is nigh when books will be mere curiosities.
The big loopy paintings by Steven Sellars reference the ‘60s with audacious and colorful mixed media
meanderings somewhat in the mode of a loose Miro or a wild Kandinsky. I admire the manner in which his
paintings snake with fragmented abstractions (maps of his mind, if you will), as if he were walking the rolling
hill country surrounding San Antonio’s University of Texas, where he earned his MFA. He’s been teaching at
Stritch since1994, and his message is simple: pushing paint is pure love. Appropriately, his 6’ x 7’ Armour,
leads off his group of six works.
faculty members whose efforts include paintings, metals, mixed media works, ceramics, handmade books
and film. In all due respect to individuals everywhere who labor with students, I know from experience that it’s
tough teaching while trying to produce personal art worth looking at, and much of this exhibit smacks of
educators too beat to bring innovative ideas to fruition. The concepts cobbled from summer travels to Europe
in collages by Teri Wagner, and to Mexico by Tim Abler in black and white photographs of Oaxaca, seem
more like after-thoughts than complete thoughts. Wagner combines various European archetypal images
with images from daily life, but the mix results in an overload of symbolism. Abler’s photographs of Oaxaca’s
“Day of the Dead” are decent enough, and even though his artist statement says the area is a “destination
rather than simply a place to visit,” I found myself feeling more like a visitor than someone drawn into the
rituals. Another painting, Mystery Pond, by Maureen Chavez-Kruger, who teaches entry-level painting, is on
loan from the children’s section of the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. Her cartoony acrylic scenario of birds,
frogs and other critters may be appropriate for the center’s children’s section, but I’ve sat on the banks of the
“Mystery Pond” at Audubon many times and I fail to see the “mystery” in this particular work. It’s just too cute.
But there are some notable works in the show, especially the small, handmade books constructed by Sharon
Giesfeldt-van Ruiswyk, who firmly roots her lovely work in an Art History MFA. In going beyond “books as
containers for information,” this artist has, over many years, collected snippets of texts (from Borges, for
instance), and re-imagined them as hand-bound, mini-curiosities to be approached with a sense of wonder.
It’s a frightening thought, but perhaps the time is nigh when books will be mere curiosities.
The big loopy paintings by Steven Sellars reference the ‘60s with audacious and colorful mixed media
meanderings somewhat in the mode of a loose Miro or a wild Kandinsky. I admire the manner in which his
paintings snake with fragmented abstractions (maps of his mind, if you will), as if he were walking the rolling
hill country surrounding San Antonio’s University of Texas, where he earned his MFA. He’s been teaching at
Stritch since1994, and his message is simple: pushing paint is pure love. Appropriately, his 6’ x 7’ Armour,
leads off his group of six works.