The start of the new school year offers opportunities not only to grow academically and spiritually on campus, but also to enjoy what the art department has to offer with this year’s Faculty Art Exhibition. Originally featuring the work of two professors, this exhibition has occurred annually since the art department was founded at Houghton College and was expanded eight years ago to become the comprehensive group faculty exhibition that it is today.
Jillian Sokso, chair of the art department, said that the purpose of the Faculty Art Exhibition is to “engage the community in what’s happening with the art faculty,” similar to the faculty recitals that happen within the music department. Twelve different medias from six professors are featured this year, which Sokso said would help students to get a good idea about what is available to study in the art department. Additionally Sokso said that the exhibit also “benefits the faculty” involved, as it is “good to get to work together” and will foster “helpful conversation” amongst colleagues. Faculty members featured this year include Ted Murphy, Ryann Cooley, Jillian Sokso, Dave Huth, John Rhett, and Gary Baxter.
Professor Ted Murphy, who teaches fundamental art courses such as painting, drawing and Intro to 2D Design, as well as the art history course, Renaissance to Early Romanticism, has over 26 pieces featured in the exhibition. One of his series, Drawings In and Out of Context, was completed “during the lectures and seminar discussions of the past year in the Contemporary Context class” he helped to teach, according to his artist’s statement, noting that “in order to better concentrate on [the class] discussions [he] began to draw.” Concerning his part in the exhibition overall, Murphy said in his artist’s statement, “these works grew out of a process” and that this “current body of work reflects [his] overlapping interest in representational art and degrees of abstraction,” as well as reflecting “an interest in Zen painting”.
Houghton’s new photography and digital imaging professor, Ryann Cooley is also featured in the exhibition, and is showing an installation conceptual piece entitled “The Last Supper”. Cooley’s typical work in the light-based mediums of photography and video is reflected in this piece, which employs twelve working TVs. The twelve TVs represent the Twelve Apostles, giving the piece its name. Cooley plays Mel Gibson’s “The Passion” on a loop while arranging the TVs to face the wall, allowing the viewer to only observe the light given off as its reflected. He said that as observers walk amongst the piece they are unaware that “Christ is continually being crucified” and that this “mirrors the conditions of the Last Supper where Christ said that his disciples didn’t ‘get it’,” as the viewers will at first miss the true meaning of the exhibit. “Yet,” Cooley said, “one can still enjoy the piece just like the apostles enjoyed Christ’s presence,” by evoking a reflective nature in the observers.
Chair of the art department and professor Jillian Sokso said that her work in this exhibition is “all relatively recent and was done over the summer.” Her works include drawings, an installation piece and book sculptures. When asked about the inspiration for her work here, Sokso said that much of it stemmed from her recent residency at the Woodside Art Center in Troy, NY. Her installation piece is also inspired by the concept of “strategic reuse,” something Sokso said she is interested in.
The exhibition formally opened the 30th of August and will continue to run through the 6th of October. A reception will take place the 20th of September complete with live music and food, as well as featuring the artists themselves speaking about their work.