By ROBIN CAUDELL
"Senior BA Exhibition 2010" sets a precedent at Plattsburgh State.
It's the first time the Art Department split the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts seniors.
"The numbers have increased steadily in the last couple of years," said Cecilia Esposito, museum director. "We were finding we were not able to show all of the graduating seniors' work, so we broke it up into two exhibitions."
This show, which opens Friday, features the work of Kristen Bissonette, Melissa Delsignore, Nolan Fedorow, Eli Holloway, Meaghan Paugh, Jennifer Pelkey, Gary Sargeant, Jolie Sargeant, Zohra Sumar and Chihiro Suzuki.
Media include photography, graphic design, ceramics, drawing and painting.
EVERY VICTIM
Graphic designer Zohra Sumar's series, "Sura," is Swahili for "face." She fused images from newspapers, magazines, journals and the Internet.
"These faces depict emotion — rage, love, hate — everything that is going on around the world," said Sumar, who is from Tanzania. "That's why they don't have actual features. They're so much every victim affected by the past, present and future. It's not just about war. It's about what the world has become, what we have done. Some faces have done this to other faces."
The media spews violence — someone dying in Iraq, a crazy woman stabbing her kids — 24/7.
"There is so much violence in the world. Even though people are not violent, they have to face this."
MOCHE VESSELS
Besides the three "Sura" works, Sumar is showing "Shanti," which is Hindi for peace. The work is an Islam, Buddhist, Hinduism collage that fuses godhead imagery and Arabic writing.
"No matter what kind you are, we can be together. Many people ask me why did you do it? What does it mean? What do you think it means? There is so much going on in the image, they can interpret anything they want. It's how they see it."
What Sumar does after graduation is a big question mark. She will either return to Tanzania and open up her own design firm or get a job here.
Meaghan Paugh, too, has no idea what she will do after graduation.
"Who knows what is going to happen in the future?" said Paugh, who has a ceramics concentration. "We're having fun with it right now."
Paugh got into ceramics in junior high at AuSable Valley Central School.
"It's just like a passion. It's just going to be my life, pretty much.
She has three moche vessels in the show.
"They were used to make a drink out of corn. I saw them in an ancient archaeology studies class; I started to research them. I wanted to make them more contemporary."
Paugh's vessels are fully functional. One extended version has four handles. She creates them on the wheel and by hand.
"I first throw the handle, the spout and the bottom part on the wheel. I put the pieces together by hand."
PASSING TIME
Painter Chihiro Suzuki is inspired by abstraction. Her oil paintings include a self-portrait, portrait of a friend and a still life.
In her quirky self-portrait, she added a flamingo.
"Because it's pink," said Suzuki, who is from Japan. "I used a picture."
The still life was a class assignment.
"I paint people just for fun."
Photographer Kristen Bissonette zoomed in on the Hawley House in Ferrisburg, Vt., for subject matter.
"It's part of a Vermont State Park," she said. "It's a historical location in that area. It served as one of the first buildings in the Ferrisburg area. I'm an employee at the State Park. I grew up right up the road."
The Hawley House served as a summer camp for girls, École Champlain.
"This part of the building has been closed off to people. There's a first floor that has been renovated and modernized."
The upper stories' decay is revealed in Bissonette's digital images.
"It's been sitting here for so long. The paint, tile and wallpaper are peeling away. You can see the story of the building, what has happened. I found that really, really interesting. If you ask somebody in the area about it, they vaguely know. If you take the time to look for yourself, it will tell you its story."
The Hawley House was a safe house for sailors fighting on Lake Champlain during the War of 1812. At Vergennes Union High School, Bissonette learned about Commodore Thomas Macdonough, the natural history of the lake, the war and Fort Ticonderoga.
"He built his fleet in Vergennes and sailed in up to Plattsburgh. I grew up learning about Plattsburgh. I lived in Macdonough Hall. It was strange being in a different place with the same history."
The theme of her series is human abandonment.
"And the passing of time," Bissonette said. "(How) the layers start to expose themselves.
"Things start telling their story."
E-mail Robin Caudell at: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
