STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
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Fall 2014 - Students respond to art in the Faculty art show - articles featured in the record.
Student, Mona Tan from Kathy Schultz's Drawing Class and student, Diane Resende from Darrren McManus's Digital Art Making class analyze and write about artwork in the RVCC faculty art show. See the articles below or click on the links to go to the articles directly in The Record.
This article is a student response to a piece at “The Art Faculty Exhibition” in Raritan Valley Community College’s Art Gallery.
By Mona Tan
Virginia Smith’s “External Space 6” is displayed at “The Art Faculty Exhibition” in Raritan Valley Community College’s Art Gallery.This article is a student response to a piece at “The Art Faculty Exhibition” in Raritan Valley Community College’s Art Gallery.
I am drawn to physical and conceptual stability, so I particularly enjoyed Virginia Smith’s “External Space 6”. This 36-by-48-inch digitally generated image conveys order, consistency and proportionality throughout its composition. It is eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing.
Smith created a transparent, dome-like structure made of hexagons that arches over a series of tall, thin stone walls, one slightly curved to border the circular flooring, and the others perfect rectangular prisms in front of it.
Grass, in various shades of green, provides the background, filling up to the horizontal line in the image. Grass also appears in the foreground, in potted ornamental form and as a shadow cast on two of the tallest prisms. The wall on the right is primarily covered in a green silhouette of leaves and branches that bleed onto the wall to its left.
The effect is unusual; the impersonal, perfectly geometrical walls are softened by the warmth of the grass.
This image was well thought-out and executed beautifully. It invites viewers into its space to think and interpret in their own ways.
By Mona Tan
Virginia Smith’s “External Space 6” is displayed at “The Art Faculty Exhibition” in Raritan Valley Community College’s Art Gallery.This article is a student response to a piece at “The Art Faculty Exhibition” in Raritan Valley Community College’s Art Gallery.
I am drawn to physical and conceptual stability, so I particularly enjoyed Virginia Smith’s “External Space 6”. This 36-by-48-inch digitally generated image conveys order, consistency and proportionality throughout its composition. It is eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing.
Smith created a transparent, dome-like structure made of hexagons that arches over a series of tall, thin stone walls, one slightly curved to border the circular flooring, and the others perfect rectangular prisms in front of it.
Grass, in various shades of green, provides the background, filling up to the horizontal line in the image. Grass also appears in the foreground, in potted ornamental form and as a shadow cast on two of the tallest prisms. The wall on the right is primarily covered in a green silhouette of leaves and branches that bleed onto the wall to its left.
The effect is unusual; the impersonal, perfectly geometrical walls are softened by the warmth of the grass.
This image was well thought-out and executed beautifully. It invites viewers into its space to think and interpret in their own ways.
This article is a student response to a piece at “The Art Faculty Exhibition” in Raritan Valley Community College’s Art Gallery.
By Diane Resende
When visiting the Raritan Valley Community College Art Gallery, one particular piece caught my attention: “Really Close Friend of Gordon Cooper”, by Darren McManus.
The colors and context of the 20-by-16-inch painting create a bold visual and emotional impact, and encourage the viewer to wonder what Mr. Cooper, one of our pioneer astronauts, truly encountered on his missions into the unknown.
McManus chose liquid acrylic to blend the different hues of blue and magenta, which dominate the field, green, and yellow-orange. The effect is striking.
The yellow-orange star is embedded into the magenta atmosphere near the furthest planet, possibly Earth, to the upper right, giving the illusion of great distance. The green “friend” appears to be standing on another planet (possibly the moon) in the bottom left foreground.
The harmony and contrast of these colors work with the subject of the painting. Normally we associate the galaxy with an ominous black void, bringing mystery and elements of the unknown with possible evil inhabitants.
This piece does the opposite. The darker blue flowers on the planets, some outlined in a shade of magenta matching the atmosphere, emit warmth and serenity.
With the uniting of these colors and elements, one does not get the sense of an ominous, mysterious galaxy anymore, but rather one of peace and beauty.
By Diane Resende
When visiting the Raritan Valley Community College Art Gallery, one particular piece caught my attention: “Really Close Friend of Gordon Cooper”, by Darren McManus.
The colors and context of the 20-by-16-inch painting create a bold visual and emotional impact, and encourage the viewer to wonder what Mr. Cooper, one of our pioneer astronauts, truly encountered on his missions into the unknown.
McManus chose liquid acrylic to blend the different hues of blue and magenta, which dominate the field, green, and yellow-orange. The effect is striking.
The yellow-orange star is embedded into the magenta atmosphere near the furthest planet, possibly Earth, to the upper right, giving the illusion of great distance. The green “friend” appears to be standing on another planet (possibly the moon) in the bottom left foreground.
The harmony and contrast of these colors work with the subject of the painting. Normally we associate the galaxy with an ominous black void, bringing mystery and elements of the unknown with possible evil inhabitants.
This piece does the opposite. The darker blue flowers on the planets, some outlined in a shade of magenta matching the atmosphere, emit warmth and serenity.
With the uniting of these colors and elements, one does not get the sense of an ominous, mysterious galaxy anymore, but rather one of peace and beauty.