Up against the wall for creative artists on SE Campus by Brian Shults, se news editor

    Seven regional artists let their creativity flow onto the walls of the Art Corridor II on SE Campus.

   Parents always tell their children not to draw on the walls at home, but SE curator, John Frost, gave the artists free reign to create a new work for the summer exhibition SURFACE: works on walls.

   “The nature of this exhibition allows the artists to respond spontaneously and intuitively to the space and the surface, and creates a new dialogue between the artists,” Frost said.

   In the center of the corridor, artist Brian Fridge utilizes graphite to create a picture similar to the surface of the moon.

   The piece was inspired by the SURFACE exhibition announcement he received from Frost, which was a close-up photo of a wall.

   Fridge said that he put the photo on an overhead projector, tracing out the shapes while incorporating vague facial features and moon craters throughout the work.

   “The image became a kind of moonscape. I wanted to draw a picture of a wall on the wall. Originally, I planned on drawing a diagram of a black hole, but this idea struck me instead,” he said.

   “People see art as not being useful in everyday life, so it’s just an object for contemplation. The universe is similar because we can understand it by observing it. I try to let my work reflect that,” he said.

   SURFACE is on display through Aug. 9, Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Featured artists include Carol Benson, Brian Fridge, Linnea Glatt, John Hartley, Jane Helslander, Chris Powell and Terri Thornton.

   Each artist was assigned a 10-by-30-foot space to work with and was granted complete creative control, Frost said.

   Helslander utilized the entire space for a single work, drawing colored circular shapes, implying rhythmic repeating cycles.

   “My work is the result of my physical reaction to music and the connection I have found between music and art,” she said.

   Being a musician and an artist, Helslander focuses on the similarities of art and music.

   “Art relates to music in that it illustrates rhythm, composition and improvisation,” she said.

   On the opposite end of the hallway, Hartly employs only a horizontal strip of the wall. Graphite silhouettes of numerous matches stream across, some lit, some burnt out, some fading and some untouched.

   “Fire is a primordial symbol of the destructive and constructive nature of mankind ... Fire can simultaneously wipe away the past and welcome the future, leaving scars as a reminder,” he said.

   Flames, matches and candles have been a theme for his work because of the power of fire, Hartly said.

   Glatt’s works include a large snowflake made from individual mirrored circles and a furry blue anchor. Thornton incorporates a minimal approach by drilling seven small holes, filling them with graphite and letting it spill out onto the floor.

   Powell also utilizes graphite in a work that resembles a blurry train track across the bottom of the floor.