Local happenings

A walk through the Ives Gallery: Alumni art transcends a single medium

By Allison Repensky (arepensky@css.edu)

November 22, 2024

     In the Ives Gallery, you don’t have to be an Art major to appreciate all that art has to offer. Art is more than just something pretty or philosophically “deep” to look at. It’s an experience, a collection of pleasing colors and shapes all wrapped up in creative, aesthetic and emotional expression—which means anyone can enjoy art.

     This month, the Ives Gallery features a CSS alumni art exhibition, showcasing 14 unique pieces of artwork created by former CSS students experimenting with various evocative mediums, from woodblock prints to tufted yarn to foraged embroidery hoops. Of course, there are also more traditional art mediums, such as paintings, photography and sketches. But regardless of the medium, there’s something for everyone to enjoy in the Ives Gallery.

     When walking into the Gallery, you are first greeted by Mary Kallemeyn’s simple yet charming woodblock print on paper titled “Poppy.” Her rendition of a poppy uses ink sparingly, captivating the eye not with elaborate lines and shapes but with a minimalist yet abstract flower. The poppy’s petals make it look like a moth or butterfly resting on a pole, about to take flight. It’s an abstract and minimalist print that draws you in, making you look closely at Kallemeyn’s ample use of “negative space” (the white space of the background) and abstract shapes. It starkly contrasts Kallemeyn’s other woodblock print, “Untitled,” which features pastel pink flowers on an abstract background of blue squares and shapes.

     “And So We Grow,” a multimedia creation by Megan Finegan, is a creative yet simple art piece featuring clumps of yarn and wire suspended within a metal hoop. The soft lighting in the Ives Gallery catches the tarnished metal of the hoop, reflecting it onto the wall. It adds a dreamy, tranquil effect to the piece. The yarn suspended in the hoop is reminiscent of moss growing undisturbed, or an explosion of bacteria in a petri dish. Its message—that we can and will grow outside of our boundaries—is a poignant reminder of resilience.

     An equally tranquil oil painting rests beside Finegan’s artwork: “Obscure” by Erin Diver. Wispy clouds, some of which appear to promise rain, swirl above a grassy plain. Diver’s brushstrokes convey the subtle movements of a breeze blowing across strands of grass as a storm moves in. The centerpiece of the painting, however, is Diver’s rendering of six extremely detailed rocks. The rocks appear as if they are floating, adding an ethereal element to the painting’s hidden charm.

     Victoria Panger’s multimedia “Darling” uses sequins, beads, yarn and other craft materials to render a colorful night sky. A beautiful blend of yellows, oranges, blues and greens mark the landscape, and glittering stars in the night sky appear to twinkle and flicker depending on the angle from which it is viewed. 

     Hazel Babcock’s “Grace” is a stark contrast to the bright colors of Panger’s “Darling” and features an incredibly detailed and realistic black-and-white portrait of a young person (presumably) named Grace. This piece is breathtaking, and you could spend hours looking at it and noticing new, tiny details like the spider web tattoo on their shoulder, the shaved part of their head and the bandage above their ear. And what’s even more astonishing is that this was rendered fully in pencil. Not paint. Pencil. 

     “Fields I” by Katie Selleck marks the final piece on the side wall of the Ives Gallery and showcases Monet-esque brushstrokes and color schemes. Selleck’s painting blends impressionistic and modern styles and colors to create a vivid yet minimalistic rendition of a tranquil field filled with flowers.

     On the far wall, Heidi Blunt’s “Dentures” is an eye-catching piece that is equal parts awe-inspiring and unsettling. At first glance, it looks like it could be an abstract carpet or doormat; however, it’s actually a giant art fixture made of brightly-colored tufted yarn, created to look like a highly realistic set of dentures—and that’s no small feat. It’s an unsettling mesh of hot pink, stained white, gray and light pink. You simply need to see this art piece for yourself to gather just how incredible it is. 

     Next to “Dentures” is a more subtle—but no less incredible—art piece made from quilted cotton: “Her body knows all the secrets of silence” by Alyssa Swanson. It might look like a black washed blanket at first, but I assure you: this isn’t your average quilt. Depending on which angle you’re looking at it, there’s an indication of a vaguely feminine shape surrounded by an intricate web of circles and swirls that seem to shift in the light. Swanson depicts the spiraling silence of the feminine body with expert detail. What it lacks in vibrant color, it makes up for in its beautiful portrayal of the overpowering nature of its shadows (the dark background and some darker-colored embroidery) contrasted with small, muted highlights (white embroidery).

     “Mostly Because Why Not” by Jemma Provance is a playfully-executed mixed media collage, drawing you in immediately with its bright, abstract paintings of suns, moons, clouds and eyes. There are stickers, pom-poms, thumbtacks and buttons. It might sound highly chaotic, and it definitely is, but it just works. It’s like looking at a scrapbook.

     “IT’S ALL SPINNING” by Jared Schuster is the only photograph featured in the Ives Gallery—but don’t let its simplicity fool you because photography can be just as eye-catching as paintings and multimedia pieces. This photo is a perfect balance of highlights and shadows that complement the angle of a person leaning their head over the edge of an old couch, capturing the chaos of spiraling out of control. It’s eye-catching and unforgettable, to say the least. 

     To calm your head from the spiraling thoughts of “IT’S ALL SPINNING,” gaze in awe at the dreamlike tranquility of DyAnna Grondahl’s “Head in the Clouds,” a circular canvas painted with swirling, intersecting white lines. It’s like watching a line of clouds moving lazily along in the sky, acting as a near-physical manifestation of how we daydream.

     The transition from “Head in the Clouds” to Tyler Johnson’s strikingly bright piece “Fire Sale” is jarring. Where “Head in the Clouds” has soft lines and muted colors, “Fire Sale” has rough, solid shapes that practically pop from the canvas in bright neon colors. The painting depicts a line of houses surrounded by brightly-colored meteors and flames licking at the bright orange and pink sky. It has a slightly urgent and dystopian feel as if it reminds us of what we will lose if we do not take action against climate change.

     Alyssa Swanson’s “But I heard the water and I smelled the earth” is an embroidery canvas hoop embellished with wool, forage fleece and various colors of thread. The threads and wool are arranged in a swirl of color, beginning in the middle with thread and gradually filling out and becoming more pronounced, taking up more space on the canvas. As the swirl grows, it becomes more colorful, blending together a series of colors found in nature: dark greens, light blues, beige and brown. It almost appears to mimic the turn of the Earth, the tranquility of our water and the earth beneath our feet. Swanson’s piece also happens to be the final element of the collection, leaving viewers with a sense of peace and deep connection to the earth.

     Want to experience the pieces for yourself? Head on over to the Ives Gallery in room 109 of the new Student Center! Student artwork is also displayed throughout the building, so take a stroll to discover even more amazing art.