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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

arts

Grunwald Group Show closes this week

Senior Ashley VanArsdale's piece "History of Typography and Transport" resembles an accordion book. Although it required a lot of time and effort, the artist said it was her favorite personal piece in this year's gallery.

Soft, warm lights illuminated the Grunwald Gallery and casted shadows on the stark white walls. The whispers of a small group in the middle of an art critique interrupt the silence that fills the rest of the space. The other conversation stems from the pieces of art that line the perimeter of the room.

For the past two weeks, the gallery has showcased one of its BFA Group Shows.

Students with work in the show are either first or second year MFA students or non-graduating BFA students from the Studio Art Department within the School of Art and Design, according to the School of Art and Design website.

This group show will conclude Thursday, before the beginning of spring break.

One artist with work in the gallery this year is Hannah Hadley, a senior BFA in textiles. While the gallery emphasized a variety of different mediums, including ceramics, photography, painting and textiles, Hadley said many different outlets have the potential for art.

“We live in a world full of creators,” Hadley said. “Anything can be artistic if provided the right lens.”

Hadley said she had some of her artwork displayed in last year’s group show as well. For the second year in a row, her work won the Grunwald Award.

“I won the same award again this year, which was a great honor,” Hadley said.

Hadley said it took her several months to brainstorm and construct concepts and pieces to incorporate into this year’s show. Her work was largely inspired by politics and a desire to incorporate light into a seemingly dark time.

“I am inspired by human resilience in the face of suffering,” Hadley said. “I was in a dark place because of the recent political climate and had plans to go down a much darker avenue in my work, but when so many peoples’ realities became darker this January I decided that I needed to focus on a more positive energy for personal sanity.”

Another senior, Ashley VanArsdale, studies in the graphic design BFA program and works in the Indiana Daily Student advertisement design department. VanArsdale’s work isn’t new to the Grunwald Gallery either — she had her work displayed in last year’s spring 2016 show and in another display in the Grunwald. For that collection, she was inspired by her study abroad program in Venice, Italy.

“Art to me is taking an idea or image from your mind and transforming it into a visual representation that expresses emotion or seeks to evoke emotion from the viewer,” VanArsdale said.

She said her favorite piece in this year’s show is her work titled “History of Typography and Transport,” which took her 11 weeks to complete.

“The book shows the history of typography and methods of transportation throughout periods of history from Gothic to contemporary along with a preface,” VanArsdale said. “I created an edition of three of these books and built a laser-cut and etched box to house each book.”

Another dynamic piece she worked on was a beehive replica demonstration tool, which was inspired by her semester of research and study of the IU Beekeeping Club, VanArsdale said.

“I created the replica beehive to be used by the club to inform new members about the history of the club and how it grew in comparison to how a beehive is started and grown,” VanArsdale said.

The two artists said the group show taught them about the importance of planning for an exhibit like this, as well as gave them experience in how to use different mediums to create one cohesive piece.

“It allowed me to combine different mediums and areas including graphic design, printmaking, and construction of a three-dimensional object into one work that I feel represents my strengths as a designer,” VanArsdale said.

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