Spring 2015 Senior Exhibition opens at Bradbury Gallery
Artwork by (clockwise from top left) Sylvia M. Clemons, Noel Miller,
Shawn Wright and Penny Jo Pausch
JONESBORO – Bradbury Gallery will host the “Spring 2015 Senior Exhibition” with an opening reception Thursday, April 23 the from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Artwork by students graduating from the Arkansas State University Department of Art will be shown. Featured in the exhibition are Sylvia M. Clemons of Paragould, Noel Miller of Missouri, Penny Jo Pausch of Jonesboro and Shawn Wright of Hardy. Their drawings, paintings, prints, ceramics, and sculpture will be on display through Saturday, May 9.
Clemons -- Sylvia M. Clemons, a multi-media artist, is a member of Who’s Who among Students, a recipient of the Lifeline to Art Scholarship and a member of the dean’s and chancellor’s list. She will graduate Magna Cum Laude this May, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in printmaking.
Clemons enjoys experimenting with different forms of art and printing techniques. Her creative ideas are often sparked by family situations that are beyond her control. She believes art is a way to express her emotions through difficult times while maintaining a positive outlook towards her future.
Miller -- Noel Miller is a printmaker and mixed media artist. Her current body of work features an intimate glimpse into the world of BDSM and addresses what it means to be a feminist in that community.
She states, “I find the human body fascinating and beautiful. I’m especially attracted to the formal aesthetic of a bound figure. A suspended figure is caught somewhere between ascension and descent, the body is stationary and simultaneously struggling against the anticipation of pain at the whim of another. In this moment the mind is free to transcend the complex mélange of emotional states in which fears couple with heightened excitement pull at the subject. It is through this emotional baptism that a calming catharsis is achieved. My experience with this has been positive; it has allowed me deep emotional connection cushioned by intense trust and shared goals.
Miller has exhibited throughout the region at venues including The River Campus in Cape Girardeau, The Fine Arts Center Gallery and Printmakers Gallery at A-State in Jonesboro, and The Hanuman Express in Poplar Bluff among others. She was also included an exhibition in Oakland, CA, during the 2014 Southern Graphics Council International Conference. She will receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in May.
Pausch -- In 1986, Penny Jo Pausch enrolled at A-State with an art scholarship. She attended classes for three years before leaving to start a family. During this break she continued to create art and began an online art business. In 2011 she returned to A-State to complete her degree.
Pausch’s work has been seen in several exhibitions throughout the area including Many Seasons of Art at the Jonesboro Sun, Let’s Think Abstract at the Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library, the A-State Juried Student Exhibition, and the North East Arkansas Visual Arts League (NEAVAL) Juried Show. Her work has also been shown in the Arkansas Arts Council’s Small Works on Paper, an exhibition that travelled to eleven sites throughout the state. Several of her artworks have been featured in the A-State English Department’s Tributary Magazine. She participates regularly in downtown Jonesboro’s Alive after Five, the Northeast Arkansas District Fair Art Show and Art on the Lawn, held at the public library.
A member of NEAVAL since 2009, Pausch currently serves as vice president and later this year will preside as President. She has shared her talents by teaching art, through private lessons and through the Jonesboro Forum for disabled adults.
Pausch will earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in painting this December. After graduation she plans to continue to create art and teach private lessons.
Wright -- Born in Phoenix, Shawn Wright creates works of art with charcoal and painting media. In 2014 Wright won second place in the A-State Annual Juried Student Exhibition, received an Art Department Endowed Scholarship, and collaborated with other artists to create a mural for St. Bernards Adult Behavioral Clinic. In spring of 2015 he held the position of gallery assistant for the Fine Arts’ Center. Wright will complete his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in education from Arkansas State University in the fall of 2015. After graduation, he plans to create work and teach at the secondary education level.
In his artist’s statement he comments, “I just cannot comprehend how a species of such intelligence can destroy the world around them, as well as its own people. My work speaks my mind when I am too reserved to speak out directly. My work will not hold back. I attempt to recognize the deepest flaws of humanity.
I use photographs taken from multiple sources, over generations of history, for the subject matter of my artwork. I primarily work in high contrast, greyscale composition. I feel the striking difference between light and dark gives more impact to my pieces and helps convey my charged emotions over the subject matter.”
The opening reception and exhibition are admission free and open to the public. Bradbury Gallery hours are from noon to 5 Tuesday through Saturday and 2 to 5 on Sunday and by appointment. The Bradbury Gallery is closed on Mondays. For more information email bradburygallery@AState.edu, visit the website at bradburygallery.com or call 870-972-2567.
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