Last update: 7/31/06 at 9:43 AM PST
Pushing art's limits
Viking Union Gallery hosts student art exhibit
Lane Koivu
| |
| |
|
Beginning Tuesday, Western students and the Bellingham community will be able to see the artistic ability and creativity of students from the Western United States and Canada. Associated Student Productions will host the Beyond Borders 2006 International College Art Competition in the Viking Union Gallery.
The 11th annual Beyond Borders exhibit, which will run from April 18 through May 12, gives college artists the opportunity to compete with artists outside of their region. The exhibit will feature 18 of 24 pieces submitted by college students from Washington state, Oregon, California, Idaho, Alaska and Vancouver, British Columbia.
"It gives students the opportunity to have their work seen by a professional artist, as well as have an idea of what it means to work in professional art," said Viking Union Gallery coordinator Kelly Warner.
The exhibit is free and will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Students used ceramics, drawing, graphic design, painting, printmaking, sculpture and photography in the competition.
Warner asked Seattle painter Margie Livingston to select the winning art submissions for the Beyond Borders exhibit. Warner said she chose Livingston after she saw her give a presentation showcasing her work in the Fine Arts building winter quarter.
Livingston said she moved from Portland to Seattle in 1991 in order to pursue her interest in abstract painting.
After obtaining her masters in art from the University of Washington in 1999, she began showcasing her paintings in Seattle galleries and joined Soil, an artist-run gallery rooted in experimental art and located in Seattle's Pioneer Square.
For the Beyond Borders exhibit, Livingston said she chose artists that used experimental themes and concepts.
"I was looking for work that was presenting a provocative idea," she said. "Work that was exploring something. Inventing something that carried personal significance."
Western sophomore and art major John Sloan's photography submissions featured Barbie dolls in experimental situations in "The Effects on Barbie #2 and #3."
His pieces portray Barbie in interracial and homosexual relationships, he said.
"The purpose of the Barbie slides was to do a series about the lives of Barbies that Mattel would never show you," he said. "Scenes that should be totally acceptable in our society but are still rarely or never portrayed in advertising."
Livingston chose Sloan's photographs because he used Barbie dolls to represent a stereotype in our culture, then put the dolls in situations that went against those stereotypes.
The contest was limited to college students from the participating Northwest regions.
The competition allows students to compete with novice artists rather than veterans, Livingston said.
"It's better to compare with your peers rather than someone who's been painting for 20 years," she said. "Each generation has their own ideas. You want your work to relate to your peers."
Students who didn't qualify for the gallery shouldn't be discouraged from pursuing art on a personal or professional level, she said.
"Your status as a professional artist is more your mindset," she said. "Being a professional artist means you are producing work regularly and investigating themes and ideas that intrigue you in your work."
Livingston said student artists need to expand their perceptions of art by interacting and communicating with artists on a local and international level.
"Go out and find as many other artists as you can talk to," she said. "Go to see work, travel to see work, allow yourself to be influenced."
In addition to selecting the submissions for the exhibit, Livingston will choose the top three entries to receive a cash prize at the award ceremony at 7 p.m. April 20 at the Viking Union Gallery. The top three entries will each receive cash prizes of $200.