School of Art installs new 3D sculpture exhibition

The “Windows of Fantasy” exhibit in the Helen Lindhurst Gallery in Watt Hall is displaying art in 3D form from the Roski School of Art and Design’s own studio art program.

“We have three very loosely named areas in studio art: 2D, 3D and 4D,” said Jud Fine, a Roski professor of sculpture who assisted in putting the exhibition together. “This is the 3D area [show], so it features sculpture and ceramics.”

Fine helped curate pieces over the past week alongside professors Ruben Ochoa and Thomas Mueller, and a few students from Fine’s advanced sculpture class helped install the show. They selected pieces from a wide range of artists who used a variety of materials, from ceramics and wood to rope and moss. Many of Roski’s sculpture courses are represented in the exhibit: ceramics, studio classes, pottery and advanced art. 

The show was designed to reflect the freedom afforded to artists working within sculpture and to celebrate what sets them apart. Fine argues that, unlike painting, sculpture has the capacity to interact with the space it’s placed in.

“Sculpture is everything,” Fine said. “All the other categories [of art] will fit into sculpture but sculpture doesn’t necessarily fit into them. Sculpture has this arrogance of being everything.”

“Windows of Fantasy” uses this idea of space to thematically unify the diverse work on display. Each piece not only takes up space but interacts with it in some way. A mattress leans against one corner; two tall, thin figures lounge on a sofa, using a wall for support — they all use the room’s features for different purposes.

“[All the pieces here] deal with space in different ways, which is why the show is called ‘Window of Fantasy,’’’ Thomas said. “It’s about how each of us judge and interpret space.”

Fine and his students took great care when installing the exhibition, keeping the show’s theme in mind. They constructed unique pedestals for every piece, both for visual flair and to ensure that each was visible from everywhere in the room. The team wanted to create a cohesive experience which could subtly guide the attention of the viewer. 

“The initial idea was to set up a show that got the viewer to move around the space,” Fine said. “We choreographed it by the way the objects are placed. There are these little spatial zones that aren’t in competition with each other.”

Unlike many galleries, none of the pieces include nameplates or any other specific information about the individual work. Without this context to separate the sculptures from one another, the gallery presents itself as one cohesive experience.

“They’re all separate, but they interact with one another and alter the space,” said junior Anissa Santos, a junior majoring in media arts and practices who attended the exhibition. “The gallery would feel very different if one of these pieces were taken out. They don’t include nameplates or anything, which creates this feeling of unification in the school.”

The “Windows of Fantasy” exhibit closes Sept. 26. The studio art program will also feature a 4D area show next month.