The Campus Chronicle

Volume 3, No. 20
April 18, 2003

“Emotion” by Yukiko Shiihara is on display at Oglethorpe Row Gallery through April 23.

Graduate student finds reward in repetition

A Review
By Hannah Pittard

“Lives in Repetition,” on display at Oglethorpe Row Gallery, represents the culmination of more than two years of study in the Savannah College of Art and Design fibers department by M.F.A. candidate Yukiko Shiihara.

“[This exhibition] contains two different perspectives about our lives,” said Shiihara. “One is about the obsessive repeated actions of traditional textile techniques, and the other is about the convenience of repeated mass-produced objects in our contemporary lives.”

Part of Shiihara’s fascination with repetition stems from its power to affect both “the part” and “the whole.” “Repetition reinforces the part and emphasizes the meaning of the object giving it its power,” she said. “As a whole, repetition creates beautiful patterns between objects that transform the notion of the object.”

Even more important to Shiihara than repetition is its necessary alliance with the hand. “Bringing the quality of the handmade towards the multiply produced is my solution to the declining quality of everyday objects,” she said. “The presence of the hand is the essence of all that I made.”

It seems inevitable that Shiihara’s admiration for the role of the hand in the creation of goods is as strong as it is — she grew up surrounded by women who felt similarly. “I have always had an appreciation for handmade objects,” she said. “When I was a child, my grandmother used to make my skirts. Also, my mother’s hobby was making clay dolls. Importance of hand works is at the heart of my concepts.”

Shiihara, who grew up in Japan, said she believes that an appreciation for the quality of life is enhanced by being surrounded by handmade works.

“Lives in Repetition” is on display at Oglethorpe Row Gallery, 406 E. Oglethorpe Ave., through April 23. A reception will be held April 18, 7-9 p.m.

Alexander Inc.’s ‘Ink’
“Alexander Ink,” featuring printmaking work by college faculty, staff and students enrolled in fall and winter quarter classes, will be on display at Alexander Hall Gallery Annex through May 21.

This is the debut appearance of “Alexander Ink,” but professor Robert Brown, who juried the event with professor Rich Gere, said he would love to see it become an annual event. “This show exists to present some of the excellent work that has been made in the last year and a half,” he said. “We would like to acknowledge the wonderful work that our students are doing.”

The exhibition embraces all of the processes taught in the printmaking program — from relief and lithography to intaglio and digital/photographic process. “The show will include work from students studying a wide variety of subjects and the work reflects a diverse range of sensibilities,” said Brown.

Among artists to present work in “Alexander Ink” are undergraduates Abezash Tamerat and Shannon Geddes, graduate students Alexander Whittaker and Cynthia White, and professors Brown and Gere.
“We need to show the public all of the incredible prints that our students have been making,” Brown said. “Often this work is shown off campus or in separate venues, but we wanted to create a show to present it all together.”

“Alexander Ink” is on display at Alexander Hall Gallery Annex, 668 Indian St., through May 21. A reception will be May 9, 5-7 p.m., in conjunction with the monthly gallery hop.