New exhibit explores the abstract

Jared Janovec is interested in the parallels between human portraiture and botanical phenomena. He never had a particular flair for horticulture, but that didn't stop him from using fruits and vegetables as his medium in a School of Fine Arts exhibit that is now showing ceramics, metal works and paintings by last semester's masters of fine arts students. \nSoFA gallery director Betsy Stirratt said there will be a reception to officially kick off the show on Friday, Jan. 11 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The reception will be open to the public. Stirratt said she expects quite a crowd compared to the other student shows this semester because of the variety of genres represented in the students' work. She believes attendance at the reception could reach 350 to 400.\n"The painting program focuses largely on figurative painting. It's pretty evident in the paintings," Stirratt said. \nThere are also quite a few humanistic forms in the ceramics and metalworking exhibits.\nHighlighting the show are scrupulously detailed oil paintings by David Cunningham, a set of marionettes by third-year metalworking student Mindy Hawkins and ceramics student Jared Janovec's "Harvest Series," featuring a set of heads one might find in a cornucopia. \n"I strive to find beauty in things that may not be beautiful," Janovec said of his collection of gourd patch kids.\nGraphic design graduate student Kate Ferrucci is concurrently showing her environmental installation,"The Nature of Envy," a mixture of proverbs, bright green and yellow coloration and computer scripted handwriting. Her show will also be officially opened at the reception, but will continue on through Saturday, Feb. 2.\nFerrucci said the installation depicts the way individuals think and express themselves to others.\n"In this space, 10 overlapping conversations are present," Ferrucci said. "Language from 10 distinct individuals depicts 10 degrees of envy."\nFerrucci's installation attempts to show that words remind people of their past thoughts and conversations.\n"(Words) bring emotions, recollections, people and ideas to mind," Ferrucci said of her installation. "In this place, word becomes image."\nLooking at everyday things from a skewed perspective is a challenge the artist must face. Janovec takes a look at people in a metaphoric way but concludes that "in the end, hopefully the work is just that they're about interesting objects -- that's first and foremost"