Exhibit highlights faculty’s artistic range

The Faculty Art Exhibition showcases original work containing everything from photography, ceramics and painting, to digital design and various mixed media.

"It can be difficult to create successful pieces while teaching, so I think that this gallery does a great job showing students that we are still practicing artists," said Linda Jensen, one of the professors featuring in the exhibit.

Another faculty artist, Linda's husband John Jensen, a ceramic sculpture and pottery professor of 25 years, urges his students to explore beyond the creative confines of traditional pottery and ceramics.

A seasoned three-dimensional artist, John has taken these same principals and applied them to his own work, as shown through his experimental pottery and sculpture.

He expresses this philosophy in such pieces as "Button Pot," which depicts a pot entirely embellished with buttons, as well as in his ceramic portraits.

"I've been doing a series of sculptures of people, and I came up with the idea of what I call heads and feet," John said. "It was really about exploring anatomy and physiology and kind of letting myself go. It was also important for me to incorporate mixed media."

Rachel Green, a professor of fabric design, crafts and two and three-dimensional design, also aims to test the boundaries of imagination.

Green features work inspired by discarded technology and recycles them to create both a unicycle and tricycle. Green assembled both of her compilations entirely of parts from technology, such as Xbox remote controls, cellular phone parts, computer keyboards and camera lenses. She even found a way to use motherboards as mounting platforms.

The Faculty Art Exhibition provides a unique opportunity for AASU's faculty to demonstrate their artistic range. Students can expect to see everything from the photographic prints and graphic design work of Angela Horne to Tom Cat's manipulated digital imagery and Linda Jensen's hand-colored silver gelatin prints.

For professors like Linda Jensen, the exhibit is also a way to get to know the faculty on a personal level through their art.

"My family is my favorite subject, so the work on display in the gallery is very personal to me," Linda said. "Adding mixed media to photographs has always seemed like a natural thing to do. Even in the beginning I had always wanted to draw and paint on the prints."

In addition to these prints, there will also be handcrafted sterling silver jewelry on display by Kevin L. Hoffman and fiber basketry by Linda Thorne.

Linda said the faculty has put a lot of time and effort into bringing this exhibit to life.

"All the professors in this department are pretty serious artists, and it's important for people to see that," she said. "Everyone produces a lot of very detailed and very original stuff." AASU visual arts minor Stephany Neelson said the 2010 Faculty Art Exhibition won't just be another run-of-the-mill art show.

"I really enjoyed being able to go and see the work that is on display in the gallery," she said.

"I feel like a lot of the students look up to these professors in a lot of ways, so it is really encouraging to go and see the talents they have and that they are still doing what they love."