UAFS Art & Design Faculty Biennial

The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Art & Design Faculty Biennial 2022 is now open to the public at Windgate Art & Design. Showcasing faculty members from the department, this is the first time in over three years that a faculty show has been held due to the pandemic. The exhibit showcases photography, book arts, fiber arts, graphic design, printmaking and drawing.

Of note is a series of works by professor Peter Cullum, including four high-quality digital prints and a looping video projection. The prints contain haunting imagery of trees devoid of their trunks and limbs, magically floating in space and serving as reminders of the fleeting quality of nature. The looping video is equally surreal, presenting “an endless expanse of dry, parched earth that rolls and flows like water, undulating like a mirage.”

Cullum explained in a statement about his recent work, “It’s getting strange out there. Not long ago, nature was something generally considered benign – under our dominion and control. My perception of nature now seems to have returned to something I thought antiquated: the sublime. Climate change driven natural disasters, new strains of viruses, all these things are combining to alter my perception of the very nature that surrounds and supports us.

“To be isolated from something is to have the opportunity to consider it anew. During the Covid-19 lockdown, I began to make images that don’t illustrate my feeling about this new nature, but attempt to embody it,” he said. “Normal processes and natural rhythms are altered, shifting from the familiar to the bizarre.

“I flipped my usual working methods and materials as a response to these feelings. I’ve used Adobe Photoshop to paint out and erase the wood structure of trees, envisioning a scenario where the body of the tree, and not the leaves, falls away with the seasons leaving a strange floating canopy of leaves behind. This is painting as erasure, as destruction.”

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The exhibition will be on view through May 13.

This column is produced by the River Valley Arts Coalition. To send comments or for more information contact [email protected].

ART THIS WEEK:

Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, 1601 Rogers Ave., Fort Smith; 479-784-2787

• John Haas In Memoriam: On view through May 22.

• RAM Annual Invitational – Metamorphosis: On view through May 22.

• Chuck Davis – The Wheel: On view through June 5.

• Selections from the Permanent Collection – The Eva Rubinstein Portfolio: On view through June 5.

• Dr. W.E. Knight Porcelain Gallery: In memory of Dr. Henry Udouj.

• Drop-in and Draw: Live model; 10-3 p.m. Thursdays; bring supplies; register at fsram.org/education.

• RAM Sketch: Pen and ink series every Tuesday at 7 p.m. on Zoom; register at fsram.org/education or join via Facebook Live.

• RAM Saturdays: Register at fsram.org/education.

• Visit fsram.org.

Windgate Art & Design, 5210 Kinkead Ave., Fort Smith; 479-788-7290

• UAFS Art & Design Faculty Biennial: A showcase of recent works by full time and adjunct faculty; on view through May 13.

• Permanent collection on view Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Arts on Main, 415 Main St., Van Buren; 479-474-7767

• Gallery admission is always free and open to the public; AOM members receive a discount on registration fees.

• Art programs for children and adults: Visit art-ed.org for available classes and workshops.

This article originally appeared on Fort Smith Times Record: Windgate: UAFS Art & Design Faculty Biennial