Professors
Exhibit Covers Walls in Visual Vibrations
by Scott Weaver
Through
Friday, Sept. 28, the walls of Fisher Hall will wear the works of
Audra Skuodas, former Adjunct Professor of Studio Art. The show,
titled Generation, Vibration, Reverberation, Transformation and
Regeneration, is an impressive collection of paintings, drawings
and mixed media constructions.
Initially, the most striking impression of the show is Skuodass
obvious meticulous attention to color. The best example of this
precision is the series of large square paintings in which monochromatic
tones occupy the entirety of each canvas. From this background,
Skuodas builds up a number of layers consisting of distorted figures
of the female body interwoven with an abstract series of patterns
formed by a variety of different shapes and symbols.
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Generation,
Vibration, Reverberation: Former Adjunct Professor
of Studio Art Audra Skuodas has exhibit at Fisher Hall.
(photo by Tom Shortliffe)
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The layout of the gallery itself is reminiscent of wallpaper, not
only in the way it envelops the room but also in the resounding
focus on patterns. This move seems to implicate the viewer into
a visual metaphor for the concepts of self: much like
wallpaper, the idea of the self is an interior construction.
Skuodas agrees that her work is, to some extent, about the self,
but refrains from denoting her work as exclusively pertaining to
herself. I work from the premise that that which is the most
deeply personal is also that which transcends into the universal,
Skuodas once wrote. Rather than segregating her work as a distinct
discipline, she sees her art as a process of connection and distillation,
transforming circumstance into a gestalt or emotional perception
that place where we feel things, Skuodas said.
Skuodas
is also convinced on the importance of beauty. The beautiful
is so essential in my life, she said. Skuodas feels that we
as a culture are continuously being desensitized by the world around
us. Amidst all the fervor of identity politics, Skuodas argues that
the multiple layers of identity we have developed over years of
acculturation are only revealing of our multiple realities. When
looking at the paintings and drawings in Fisher, one understands
the importance of interwoven layers and as Skuodas points out, the
beauty of her work is most apparent at the point where the layers
of the painting meet. We construct intellectual maps of reality
in which life is reduced to its general outlines, but beyond these
lies its essence, its spirit, she said.
It
is important not to overlook the remarkable figural images scattered
throughout the large panels and smaller drawings. At first glance,
these images seem extremely violent, perhaps due to their seeming
obliteration behind the layers of colored dots and symbols. The
figures are almost crammed into the corners of the frame or reaching
with a solitary hand into the frame from below. The words, which
appear on the smaller format drawings, also appear to sustain an
intense passion. The visible made by the invisible, desecration
violation. The spirit defiled, atrocities reign reads
one panel. Skuodas maintains that her process of distillation makes
these female figures less representational than symbols themselves
for a more universal condition.
Skuodas uses her elements space, symbol, figure and sometimes
word to elicit an abstract, almost intangible sentiment within
both her and her viewer.
Quite effectively, Skuodass work manages to be all at once
aesthetically interesting enough to entice further attention and
vague enough to require it. Upon further reflection, the interaction
between patterns, words and figures seems to take on a visual vibration
of its own, each panel finding its own subconscious string within
the viewer.
Perhaps the biggest drawback to this show is the fact that a large
and important portion of Skuodass body of work is not present.
Many of the pieces present are based on her work with books. Unfortunately,
due to the difficulties of displaying such works, they were excluded
in the show. However, approaching the layers of her paintings or
drawings as one would approach the distinct sense of reality one
enjoys with a book allows for a better understanding of the interior
compositions of Skuodas works.
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