Exhibit features overseas study students

Pulling  straight from deep cultural vats of inspiration in Paris, Beijing and Florence and Venice, Italy, student artists involved in last summer’s overseas study abroad programs captured golden moments and everyday life through a variety of media, such as photography, drawing, prints, books, watercolors and paintings.

The School of Fine Arts Abroad: Overseas Study Exhibition features artwork produced by students who participated in study abroad programs taught by members of the IU Fine Arts faculty, Tim Kennedy, Ed Bernstein, Jeffrey Wolin and Arthur Liou.  

Each year, the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts and the IU Office of Overseas Study form a partnership to offer summer programs in Europe and Asia.

This year, from city lights to skin rashes, students’ work will be on display until Saturday at the Grunwald Gallery of Art.

Upon entering the gallery, the world of Paris greets visitors’ eyes.

In the back of the room, two photos taken by junior Jordan Dunmead hang on the wall. In one of the photographs, strings with colorfully painted pieces of
origami hang from the ceiling of a church. The large stone pillars contrast with the delicate pieces of paper dangling in front of them.    

“The photography titled ‘Origami’ was taken during a day that we had free time to explore Paris by ourselves,” Dunmead said in an email.

While walking down side streets near the Pompidou Modern Art Museum, Dunmead stumbled upon an abandoned-looking church with a tarp over it, she said, causing people to either ignore or check it out.

“I, of course, took this as an opportunity, and when I walked in, I found one of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever seen,” Dunmead said. “I feel like the origami that was hanging from the ceiling was meant to mirror the colors of the stained glass, mixing old with new, and I took the photo in order to capture that moment — a moment most other visitors might have passed up.”

A series of three photographs by Sara Lowthian also hang on the back wall.

Captured in black and white, all three photos feature a food item. The first was a bottle of wine, the second showed five apples and the third include eggs. Deep shadows and soft light characterized the photographs.

The room to the left of the doorway featured work of students who participated in the Florence and Venice, Italy, and Beijing programs.

Students who traveled to Venice, Italy, studied printmaking and bookmaking. Artists’ books ranging in size from miniature to grandiose lay neatly on white shelves. A pop-up book created by Rachel Baxter titled “Edge” was decorated with ink drawings, and an artist book by Betsy Stout displays intricately cut designs and cutouts.

Drawings and watercolors decorate the walls designated for Florence. Using tools such as paintbrushes, charcoal and graphite, students captured the rolling hills surrounding Florence as well as street life.

Digital art was explored by students who made the trip to Beijing. Work from these students is displayed on everything from TVs to canvas.

Nearly 500 pieces of rice paper, each boasting a blot of a red mixture of salt, ink and paint, decorated the wall immediately to the right of the entrance.

Liz Fallwell, a senior graduating in December, took inspiration for her piece, “Infection,” from a personal experience.

“The idea for ‘Infection’ came from a skin rash that I contracted a week before leaving for China,” Fallwell said in an email. “Being in China, such a large city and full of millions of people, with health care not being a top priority and horrors of disease portrayed by the media led me to explore the idea of creating a disease based on what I had.”

In the middle of the vast organized square of pieces of rice paper, three photos Fallwell took of herself with the disease she created hang, emphasizing the idea of infection and death.

“Having a skin rash was upsetting, especially since it didn’t go away for months,” Fallwell said. “I was pushing the boundaries of having and creating a disease that would render death and creating a mass infection that would spread quickly in such a condensed environment. The cards show the scabs, or the actual skin portions
affected.”

Though each student took separate paths of artistic development, the fruits of their individual journeys now rest together in the gallery for all to see.

“My experience in Paris was indescribable,” Dunmead said. “Before I left, I made a promise with myself that I’d make the most out of my six weeks there, and I feel like I did just that. It’s an experience I’ll never forget.”