Emily Stokes, a Resident Assistant Professor of Studio Arts, enjoys building language of iconography from overlooked or everyday, such as definitive childhood experiences like her toddler. Professor Matt Hill cried viewing the piece as he reflected about his own son.
The Lied Art Gallery opened Jan. 23 with the Studio Arts Faculty Exhibition, a showcase of work by Creighton University art faculty that runs through March 1. The exhibition features photography, ceramics, painting, drawing and printmaking, offering students and visitors a look at the artistic practices of the professors who teach on campus.
Curated by Gallery Director Jess Benjamin, the exhibition brings together faculty from multiple studio arts disciplines and serves as both a professional showcase and an educational resource.
“This is something we do every few years as a way for students to see what faculty members produce,” Benjamin said. “We’re working artists, and this helps students understand who we are as people and as educators.”
Faculty members selected the pieces they wished to submit, while Benjamin determined placement, lighting and how the works relate to one another. Artist statements are displayed alongside the pieces, explaining the concepts behind the work and identifying the courses each faculty member teaches. Benjamin said the statements help students connect what they see in the gallery with classroom learning.
Among the featured artists is Fr. Michael J. Flecky, S.J., a professor of fine and performing arts, who exhibited black-and-white photographs of storefront mannequins. Flecky said his work explores themes of consumerism, identity and perception by capturing layered elements such as glass reflections, signage and displays.
“Black and white abstracts from the way things appear in reality, and it makes us think about what’s behind the surface,” Flecky said.
He added that the images also raise questions about value.
“We’re always talking about values: human values, Christian values, economic values,” he said. “The pricing, the display, the color — the values we place on things are arbitrary.”
Benjamin, who is also a ceramics professor at Creighton, contributed sculptural works constructed primarily from clay. Her pieces, which include faucets, buckets and vessels, comment on environmental concerns surrounding water usage in the Great Plains. She said material choice plays a critical role in reinforcing the themes of her work.
JONAH LAGRANGE/THE CREIGHTONIAN
Fr. Michael Flecky S.J. creates a series entitled “Storefront Madonna’s” features haunting visual displays of humanoid presence combinded with fashion clothing (or lack of both: “1/2 off”) for sale in commercial settings. The pieces featured both fashion and sleek artificial humanity are posed for artistic appeal, admiration, cuiosity, shock, even reverence and worship-all on commercial display accessible and shown to pedestrian shoppers in Kobenhaven DK. Flecky first photographed in U.S. Rochester New York in 1978 when window arrangements were skillfully made.
Rachel Mindrup, the Richard L. Deming, MD Endowed Chair in Medical Humanities, exhibited printmaking and oil painting portraits of her sons from their early childhood, using color and composition to reflect stages of motherhood. In one painting, she chose to depict her sons in black and white.
“My boys aren’t little anymore,” Mindrup said, noting that the surrounding elements remain in color because they have stayed the same over time.
Drawing instructor Kristin Pluhacek displayed pastel paintings of plants and mushrooms that balance realism and abstraction. She said her work emphasizes careful observation.
“You can walk past the same plant a hundred times,” Pluhacek said, “but one day the light hits it differently, and suddenly you have to do something with it.”
With many students balancing academic and personal demands, the Lied Art Gallery provides an accessible way to experience contemporary art on campus. Faculty members said exhibitions, visiting artists and gallery events help spark creativity and inspire student work.
The Studio Arts Faculty Exhibition is free and open to the public at the Lied Art Gallery through March 1.