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Vol. LXIII, No. 21
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
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Vol. LXIII, No. 21
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
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The “Spring 2009 Student Group Show” up at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University features a variety of projects in media ranging from photography to painting to sculpture displayed on three floors of the building.
On view until June 3, the exhibition ranges from work of first-time art students to that of seniors who will go on to pursue further studies in fine arts. It is free and open to the public weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The Lucas Gallery, where most of the three-dimensional work is displayed alongside oil paintings done in various styles, is a space on campus that is devoted to exclusively showing student work, according to Communications Director for the Lewis Center, Marguerite d’Aprile-Smith. What is on view now is the “culmination of work from the spring semester,” she explained.
A wooden sculpture by junior Nicky Pereira-Kamath surely utilized study in structural engineering, or at least a careful knowledge of balance, as interlinked cubes extend precariously downward toward the floor.
Another piece by senior Anna K. Miller, involves nine square photographs arranged behind a pedestal coated in a sticky material. Upon closer inspection, the viewer finds that the work, entitled “Once Every Five Minutes,” captures the gradual melting of a block of honey through photography, and presents the viewer with the tangible results of the performance.
Honey and wood are recurring materials in Ms. Miller’s work, and photography, installation, and performance are other facets of her art.
Ms. Miller’s artists’ statement reveals a bit more about her thought process: “Our surroundings are simplified into understandable terms through an interaction between language and culture. However, I observe a gap between the chaotic and complex world outside of human experience and the world as perceived through human thought structured by language. I am interested in exploring this gap and the inadequacies of language; many of my works are attempted metaphors for these inadequacies.”
Large color print photographs by junior Talia Nussbaum are also on display in the exhibition. Having recently received the Alex Adam ’07 Award, which provides summer funding for students to engage in arts practice, Ms. Nussbaum will further develop a photography project she began last year, which involved “traveling to Israel to interview and photograph Israeli youths about the ways in which mandatory military service has affected their personal development and romantic relationships.”
Ms. d’Aprile-Smith noted that the ability to display artwork in such a setting allows for increased dialogue between and among students and faculty. “The Lewis Center was formed in November of 2007 to raise the visibility of the arts at Princeton,” she said, adding that welcoming the community is one of the Center’s goals.