Spring Break
Faculty members showcase artwork at 'Hybrid II' exhibit
Betsy Cohen
Issue date: 2/12/09 Section: News
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![Seniors [left to right] Megan Wright, Ashley Stoup and Megan Robertson look at art by Professor Lilla Samson entitled](http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper366/stills/6kmfwen6.jpg)
The artists include professors Ben Anderson, Jeff Bertwell, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Barbara Pagh, Kim Salerno, Lilla Samson and Kimberly-Blue Wade.
Upon entering the gallery, the first artistic piece easily visible is by artist Jeff Bertwell, titled "Beavertail Progression A, B, + C." With pastels, charcoal and graphite, Bertwell drew on Korean handmade paper. The first of his drawings is a unique palette of pink, blue, yellow and purple hues amidst a blended black figure. His other two pieces can be viewed once inside the whitewashed room.
Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, an associate professor of art at URI, had three digital works on display. Her exhibit showcased animations from still photos that seemed to pop out at the viewer.
"The past and present appear here in the same virtual space," Matthew said in a written statement. "These animations weave in and out of spaces of time, allowing the view to simultaneously ponder the history, future and aging of the subjects."
Matthew's exhibit was funded by the MacColl Johnson Fellowship from the Rhode Island Foundation, as well as the university.
The third exhibit was a series of black and white charcoal and pastel drawings of marine creatures by artist Lilla Samson. Samson's six-piece collection is composed of five drawings and one 3-D piece, which are hung from the ceiling above a pedestal, mapping a nautical chart. Samson used the method of shibori, a Japanese technique of dying cloth, to dye polyester and silk. The five other life-like pieces depict the organisms Asterias rubens (the Common Starfish), Dinophysis norvegica (a planktonic dinoflagellate linked to Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning, (DSP), Thalassiosira nordenskioeldii, Ornithocercus magnificus and Semibalanus balanoides (an acorn barnacle).
