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Artist Statement:
Jena Weiler

Artist Statement:
Meg Thomas



Room #416
Jena Weiler
Oil on paper







Room #415
Jena Weiler
Oil on paper






Room #829
Jena Weiler
Oil on paper

Here's your key.
Making a house a Home
Meg Thomas
Red embroidery floss, tooth
savor box, nail, pin, bottom
of chocolate box once lined
with wax paper



Becoming the son you
always wanted, discovering
the woman I always was
Meg Thomas
Lid to gold jewelry box,
raspberry and blackberry
candles, red tooth saver box

We live on a circle.
A circle . My sister and I
Meg Thomas
Red circle piece of plastic,
pastel pink embriodery floss,
pins, lemon drops, red
tooth saver box

No.27

Shawn Schemeneauer

Silly Putty

The End of a Beginning

Dream-Scape

Drawing

Timothy Howe

Solitude

Drawing

Timothy Howe

Nasturtium

Watercolor on Paper

Debra D'Souza

Thoughts of Spring

Watercolor on paper

Debra D'Souza

Last Supper: Angel two

Mixed Media

Ashley Suddendorf

Last Supper: Angel five

Mixed Media

Ashley Suddendorf

The Oak

Oil on Panel

Debra D'Souza

ALLC Alumni Gallery

Kayln Meisner
The Arc of a Friend
Photography
23 x 15










Claire Hilgendorf
untitled
Digital Collage
8 x 10









Ryan Smith
Still Life of the New Traditional
Acrylic on Canvas
2008









Sara Guenthner
untitled
Acrylic on canvas
2007










Ross Harried
Jack as Jack
Charcoal
2007

2D Design

Hildesheim German Exchange Show

Allison
As I sit here, trying to write this artist statement about my experience in Germany, the pattern goes like this:
type
type
backspace.
type
type
type
backspace
backspace
backspace.

Think. Type. Backspace. Repeat.

It just occurred to me, that in a way, this perfectly describes the past year.

For me, my year in Germany was about exposure to new challenges and prevailing. Virtually overnight, everything in my surroundings became foreign. Every single day, in some way or another, I was exposed to something new. This often created a pattern of: Try. Fail. Try again.

This pattern was especially true artistically last year. Every minute thing that was relatively easy in America became slightly more challenging due to linguistic and cultural barriers. You never realize how many simple things you take for granted like having your Adobe Suite in English in the computer labs. The smallest things that you would never think twice about here became a challenge to overcome.

Do I write this negatively? Not at all. It is completely the opposite. All of these challenges made me more driven to achieve results I wanted. If you wanted to really understand, wanted to get something done, or just wanted to print a damn photo, you had to fight for it.

My body of work from the last year in Germany is about trying again and again and overcoming. Over the year the forward/backward pattern slowly evolved into more forwards and less backwards. What you are viewing today are the results of many backwards that eventually progressed forward into this body of work.

Jeff
“Traveling alone is helpful for a new perspective on life,” states famous graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister, who has set up design studios in multiple countries. This is a belief he holds that has not changed throughout his lifetime.

When it comes to design I believe that growing as a person is just as powerful to a designer as actually learning various aesthetics about design. Ideation and research are just as important, if not more important than the actual physical design. If long hours of ideation and research are put into a project, it is bound to be strong. I have never been a fan of prettiness or added unimportant information. Having a strong contemporary sculpture background is something I try to relate into my design. Mixing Art with Design can have an interesting outcome. Spending a year in Germany opened me up to what I really wanted to do with Design, not what I had to do. Getting extra time to think of a concept can be very rewarding, more and more ideas pop through your head because the thought process is longer. Stress of thinking of an idea quickly can put a damper on your creative power, but can also be good for getting you ready for the real world. Seeing both good and bad of both sides has really shaped me as a designer.

Sam Schuna
Studying abroad at HAWK Hildesheim was an amazing opportunity for me to grow and develop as a designer. The class structure is quite different from a typical American college course, so the experience of solving design problems in another culture made me overall more flexible in my creative approach and opened my mind to new ways of thinking. However, it was the people I worked with that really had the greatest affect on my work. I would not have been able to complete either the amount of work I have nor the quality I achieved without help from all of the friendly and helpful students and professors. It truly was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I will never forget it.¬¬

Nikki
The beginning of my journey was a world wind of different emotions, which led to the drastic evolution from an artistic viewpoint. No longer did my view of a project become something that was a production line of work but it became a process of individuality and experimentation. I could finally take a step back and use my life, personality, and artistic outlook to really mold my work and my existence. Opening up to the world I lived in and wearing my emotions on my sleeve became my calm in the storm. Everything was and is forever changing, but as long as I stay true to my work and myself then my equilibrium will also stay strong.

Julie Nussbaum
The opportunity to study in Hildesheim, Germany, for the 2007-2008 school year was a critical element in my design education. The challenge of being immersed in another culture while continuing to study design offered unparalleled growth potential. I learned alternative techniques and ideation that has broadened my worldview and introduced me to new concepts expanding my global perspective. As a designer, all that I am and all that I experience contribute to the depth and breadth of my design work. Living in Germany provided me with a variety of new tools that I could get no where else while working with the professors and students over there, learning their academic system, and experiencing the art and design of Europe.

Ian
I went over to Germany expecting to study in a land of strict grid systems with Bauhaus- like instruction. Unfortunately this stereotype wasn’t true. However, it is still the land of good beer and this quickly drowned my disappointment, and aided my assimilation.
Over the course of the year abroad I made many observations, which inspired much of my current work. I was stuck in my own head, as the language I was surrounded with was incomprehensible to me ninety percent of the time. German started to sound like a static hiss and forced me to really indulge and overly research my own interests. Many of my projects reflect this, and are almost entirely unfiltered Ian. A good reason for this was that the teaching methodology was quite different than what I was accustomed to, so I quickly learned to teach and challenge myself.

Setting my own schedule allowed me to travel extensively, and I was able to see so much. From countless museums throughout Europe I took inspiration with awe, and from many of their citizens I gained character with respect. While traveling I accumulated a fair number of unique experiences thanks to this study abroad opportunity.

a large anchor in a small pond

david keyes
a large anchor in a small pond
mixed media, globe, maps
2008

color study

fawn beckman

color study
pastel on paper
2008

tulips

kim jolicoeur
tulips
charcoal on paper
2008

untitled (in-progress)

jenny ragan
untitled (in-process)
manipulated found objects
2008

have you heard/menomonie

patrick nicholson
have you heard (detail, above)
graphite on paper
2008

menomonie (right)
pastel on paper
2008

my most genuine when i'm alone

mark fladeboe
my most genuine when i'm alone (details)
graphite, conte, charcoal, india ink, gouache on bfk paper
2008

this piece deals with my identity. i explored myself, who i am, why i am. i am a shy person, which is addressed visually and physically. my work is on a small scale so it evokes a sense of intimacy. the work will draw the viewer in, only if he/she wants to be drawn in. each piece addresses different aspects of my life including fears, hobbies and family. the imagery in each drawing is hidden. this allows the viewer to take on his/her own meaning, but the drawing will always mean what it means to me. the drawings have a sort of layered effect to them and this is to show not only depth but it signifies the layers of life and memory. this piece will hopefully evoke memories and meanings to the viewer and he/she can take on their own interpretation when viewing.

take flight

josh jankowski
take flight
gouache, ink, watercolor, marker
2008


chum fiesta
gouache, ink, watercolor, marker
2008

I went into this assignment with the intention to combine human and animals to create a narrative. I used inks to stain the paper, and used ink and gouache to create the characters.

expected ambiance

erin emery
expected ambiance (details)
mixed media on paper
2008

personality can be represented in a person in many ways. i see personality in colors and images. each of these columns illustrate someone in my life that has been affected by my decision to meet my birth parents. each of these people were affected in different ways and it shows through them in varying colors. the colors represent the auras that surround them. some of the images come from memories but most are objects that represent the individual person.

smoke rings at 3 am

joe larson
smoke rings at 3 am
acrylic, wall spray, gesso on birchwood
2008

my piece was inspired by my personal abstract visual thoughts of how my mind and memory mights store, remember, misremember and recollect information and memories that i have experienced over my lifetime. it is based off the fact that the scientific community knows so much about our minds and memory currently; however, at the same time they also are learning about how the human mind, brain and memory work. the abstract line-work and colors were used to visually describe how i see my mind working while trying to recollect information, a past memory and also the mystery of why some information can be burned into my memory permanently for no significant reason, and contrast to that how easily and often my mind fails to recollect or store important memories or information as well, no matter how hard i try to remember.

cherry cobbler, christmas ribbon and an avant-garde theatre show

jessica joswiak
cherry cobbler, christmas ribbon and an avant-garde theatre show (details)
mixed media on various papers
2008

My series of drawings is based on the concept of my memory. The primary focus is on my artistic process rather than the outcome of the drawings. I allowed memories to enter and exit my mind and kept a drawing tool constantly moving and documenting my thoughts. The memories are big and small, vivid and intangible, childlike and sophisticated. I find great significance in the ability of memory to shape my sense of self. Thus, each drawing depicts a moment of my life I find to be highly significant to my personality.

Sense of place is articulated in many ways throughout the drawings. While skylines and horizons convey a literal setting, many of the figurative elements express a sense of place more personal to myself than to the viewer. I include expressive figurative drawings taken from past sketchbooks because these drawings, more so than any photo, bring back a flood of emotions. I remember exactly where I was, who I was near, and what my feelings were that lead to those sketches. This element of emotion is what I intend to surface in all my pieces.

The frames, and layout of the frames, embody the mapping aspect of my memory.

I utilize a variety of materials through the drawings. All work is on paper, some of which is made for charcoal and watercolor mediums, and some of which are found paintings or drawings from my childhood. The images are rendered in various dry mediums and gouache.

sea of sisters

karen barthels
sea of sisters (details)
mixed media (hand-dyed fabric & acrylic)
2008

my work is about history and process. this piece shows the process of how people work together as a group or in a family. my inspiration for this piece was the closeness of my sisters and i, through hard times as well as good.

the kitchen sink

drawing three presents
the kitchen sink
premiering september 4 - 12, 2008
gallery 209

artists
karen barthels
fawn beckman
erin emery
mark fladeboe
josh jankowski
kim joliceour
jessica joswiak
david keyes
joe larson
pat nicholson
jennifer ragan