Arts and Entertainment

Scene at Abington Research Week: Student art awards

Lear Award for Drawing and Painting: Taj Cannon, Muse in Mirror, oil and acrylic on canvas. Faculty describe him as an intuitive painter and praise his sense of color and composition. They say he was born to paint. Credit: Maria Narodetsky / Penn StateCreative Commons

ABINGTON, Pa. — Art is fundamentally a form of intellectual and imaginative inquiry so the Bertha Lear art exhibition always kicks off undergraduate research week at Penn State Abington. Meet the 2016 Lear award winners and explore their art practice through faculty commentary.

Lear Honorable Mention Trish Grow, Icarus (amnesty). The Icarus project, as does much of her work, showcases her strengths in visual and word images. In amnesty, she marries these dualities through fragmentation, both of the body and the wings, with mounting pins. Trish is an English major, but faculty say they hope she minors in art. Credit: Maria Narodetsky / Penn StateCreative Commons

 

Penn State Abington student Andy Vo earned the 2016 Bertha Lear Award for New Media. He crafted 'The Dove' for an exercise in integrating a modeled environment with a simple rigged character. "The challenges of modeling, lighting, camera motion, video overdub, and other technical flourishes aren't considered attainable in a first animation project but not for Andy," H. John Thompson, art faculty, said. "He leapfrogged this simple project into a legitimate and fully-formed narrative." Credit: Andy Vo

 

Lear Award for Photography Gloria Huang, Untitled. Gloria used the concept of the quick random shot along with the use of light to create this image and moved the concept of a photograph in new directions — not recording the information but creating with it.  Credit: Regina Broscius / Penn StateCreative Commons

 

Lear Award for Sculpture and Ceramics Angelique Kopacz, Love Always; concrete, paper, and wax. Angelique's exploration of the concept of bridge reflects the deeply personal and metaphoric responses in her work. She created an installation of separated geodes where stacks of private notes become precious crystals, vulnerable and exposed.    Credit: Regina Broscius / Penn StateCreative Commons

 

Lear Award for Printmaking Maria Vasilovski, Untitled. Maria has magnificent abilities working with pattern and color and worked tirelessly producing a series of linoleum prints. The pieces provided a resource for her to examine endless combinations and sequences resulting in a stunning series of related works. Credit: Maria Narodetsky / Penn StateCreative Commons

 

 

 

The 10th annual Bertha Lear Art Exhibition is open to art majors and nonmajors. Robert Lear, a 1967 Penn State alumnus, and his wife, Marilyn, founded the exhibition program endowment in memory of his mother, an avid supporter of artists. The public is welcome to explore the exhibition through the month of April.

Last Updated April 15, 2016

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