The Campus Chronicle

Volume 3, No. 37
September 26, 2003

“Further” by Robert Fiedler is on display at Alexander Hall Gallery, 668 Indian St., through Sept. 30 as part of “A Journey of Serendipity.”

Graduates student explores solitude in ‘Journey’

A Review
By Hannah Pittard

M.F.A. photography candidate Robert Fiedler’s thesis project, “A Journey of Serendipity,” focuses on ritual, journey and solitude. “The character in the images is searching for the first, participating in the second and a victim of the third,” explained Fiedler of his exhibition. “In a sense, this project is about developing a hero character who has gone in search of a mythological solution that relates to how he exists in this society/culture.”

According to Fiedler, his inspiration to create such startling images of isolation and longing, stems from his own experiences in life as well as a handful of authors, including Joseph Campbell, Robert Hass, Wislawa Szymborska and Wallace Stevens. “Essentially, I just go about my day and whether I see some action on the theater of the street or am thinking about something I just read, I try to translate my thoughts on those things into a visual image in my mind,” he said. “The rest is just experimentation and revision. The expression of that visual language onto a physical plane is analogous to a print from a negative. I have in effect already taken the picture in my mind and, from there, transport it to paper.”

Fiedler favors a 4-by-5 camera, which he said allows him to control more precisely the composition and focus of the images and to direct the viewer, at least to some extent, where to look in the pictures.

“Ideally, when the viewer sees the work, I would like for them to think, ‘This is also how I feel, and these are ideas that I have, and this is how I would express them.’ I want them to relate to the work on a personal level in such a way that they feel that they have a part in the work itself,” said Fiedler. “It isn’t art unless the viewer participates on the same level as the artist.”

“A Journey of Serendipity” is on display at Alexander Hall Gallery through Sept. 30. A closing reception will be held Sept. 27, 5-7 p.m.

‘Two Steps’ by two artists
M.F.A. candidates Woodie Webber and Brett Callero explore the history of painting and the power of collage with their joint exhibition, “Two Steps Away from Painting.”

The résumés of both artists are peppered with various awards and distinctions. Webber was the recipient of a four-year art and merit scholarship at Seattle Pacific University, from which he was graduated in 2001 with a B.A. in art. He has acted as teaching assistant in various classes and, in 2003, earned the New York Workspace Opportunity and an internship at Pace Wildenstein Gallery in New York.

Callero, on the other hand, not only has a handful of teaching assistantships and more than a dozen group exhibitions to his name, he also is the owner of Brett Callero Design, for which he acts as both art director and graphic designer.

“Since the act of shopping is now considered self-expression, it should come as no surprise that what we call reality is becoming less real,” said Callero of his work in the exhibition. “As a society, we increasingly manufacture culture. Therefore we only know how to rediscover and reinvent through our contradictory and hypocritical natures … I am continually fascinated and disgusted by pop culture. I pay attention to everything. Particularly the way pop culture mediates images and manipulates words. I chew it up and spit it out just like everyone else, but it doesn’t always taste as good as it used to.”

Arguing against the common conception that knowledge is acquired through experience, Callero said, “We learn [instead] from mediated imagery and filtered information custom made for whatever demographic market we fit into. These concepts establish the locality of my current conceptual thinking and process-making.”

Callero described his sketches included in the show as “remakes.” Referencing pop culture and the vernacular, he utilizes digital photography to create original and duplicate work. “Through comprehensive documentation, I am able to simulate a sketchbook of influence that ultimately becomes a perpetual cycle of re-contextualization. The finished panels are the final step in this transformation. They are the products of the process.”

Webber, who described his body of work as the culmination of artistic experimentation and controlled personal expression, used beeswax, latex, fabric, acrylic paint and “appropriate” images to create his contributions to the show. “These pieces contain unique and interesting visual narratives metaphorically representing thoughts and memories drawn from my life,” said Webber. “As the child of antique dealers, I was continually exposed to objects containing visual effects induced by the ravages of time. Reflected within these paintings is my ongoing fascination regarding this aspect of the aging process and the emotional comfort it brings me.”

Webber described his technique as humorous images layered atop fragrantly translucent beeswax disturbed by precarious events. “The viewer is left to ponder the tension created by these opposing forces,” he said. “It is this tension and the feeling it evokes that truly represents the world around us.”

“These are paintings in the postmodern sense of the word, which basically means they are paintings only because they are displayed like traditional paintings are,” said Callero.

“Two Steps Away from Painting” is on display at Orleans Gallery, Orleans Hall, 201 Barnard St., through Oct. 15.