Skip to Main Content

Northern Star

 

Advertisement

 
Overcast Clouds
40
Overcast Clouds | Light Air

 
Northern Star

Northern Illinois University’s student media since 1899

 

Ensure student journalism survives. Donate today.

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

by

By Todd McMahon | March 16, 1992

Imagine walking into a dimly lit cave. Your senses heighten as you look around the dark area. Engulfed in silence, you become entranced by your surroundings.

Your eyes focus on the brightly-painted abstract artwork on the walls. You stumble onto sculptured figures resembling artifacts. You exit into an open area filled with paintings portraying mounds created by ancient societies.

In actuality, this is not an adventure into a cave, but an art show in the Holmes Student Center gallery. This particular show was developed by four graduate students in art at Northern Illinois University. Their work is on display until Friday, February 12.

"Ring of Seven," represented by oval ceramic figures colored with pink, white and gray were placed on a slanting wedge. This piece was created to resemble ancient artifacts, said sculptor Dave Harton.

Harton developed his fascination with artifacts while on digs in Mexico, Japan and the Middle East. Being frustrated by restrictions placed on removing artifacts from a site, Harton decided to create his own.

This particular piece was developed by implementing a combination of methods. Harton sculpted the upper portions of the bowl-like structures by hand and shaped their bases on the wheel. Harton then painted the white and gray structures with pink paint, because he liked the effect.

"Hopefully, the viewer will see things that he/she wants to see," Harton said of his work. The sculptor has received several comments on the particular forms of the objects he created. One viewer said "Rings of Seven," projected a religious image, while another said there were sexual connotations in this piece. Harton said someone even suggested he use the seven "bowls" as jello molds.

Dave Reninger created a well-designed painting with "Incubator." The painter employed the concept of depth and texture with a patterned background. Organic matter is pieced together using a complementary color scheme dominated by bright yellow.

The painter said the piece was symbolic of its title. With the use of color, texture and organic subject matter, there is a certain warmth emitted from the painting that can be compared to his other works in the show.

"It (art) is like music where you have a simple phrase and repeat it in a lot of ways," said Reninger.

After setting up the show, Reninger and King Siu discovered the former's subject matter in a painting resembled the design placed together in a sculpture by the latter.

Siu, a first-year graduate student in painting, utilized organic matter by designing charred wood, shaping iron nails and growing live grass in his sculptures because he considered this particular art to be tangible and personal.

Originally from China, Siu expressed the effect different surroundings have on his artwork. He said the certain characteristics associated with climates in the spring and winter create a strong influence on his visual perception and taste.

Siu said he is intrigued by the grass in the spring and charred wood in the winter. The simplicity of the subject matter adds to the effectiveness of his organic sculpture. "I don't want people to associate my work with some narrative content."

However, painter Wes Kramer brings narrative content together using an abstract, boldy simplified process. Kramer's eight paintings depict mounds created by ancient civilizations in the Midwest.

His work is abstract, yet the story behind the mounds and the forms that exist or have existed in ancient history is basic to the universality of society, Kramer said.

"What's interesting to me is people here made mounds. And almost every society in the world, made mounds, pyramids or Stonehenge," he said.

The separate efforts of the four artists represented in the relationship between the artwork and the surroundings adds unity to the overall experience.

Flames burn NIU at M-C tourney

By Wes Swietek | March 16, 1992

Everything about last week's Mid-Continent Conference Tournament was too quick for the NIU men's basketball team. Too quick, as in too quick of an opponent in the opening game against 3rd-seed Illinois-Chicago and, as a result, too quick of an exit. The...

Huskies three away from NCAA

By Wes Swietek | March 5, 1992

The NIU men's basketball team is, potentially, three games away from an NCAA bid. Standing in the way are seven familiar foes. As NIU prepares for the Mid-Continent Tournament at Cleveland this weekend—with its accompanying automatic NCAA bid for the...

Future Huskies earn accolades

March 3, 1992

NIU men's basketball coach Brian Hammel and his staff have gone 4-for-4 as far as instate recruiting is concerned. Hammel signed four players from the state of Illinois in the November early signing period, and the quartet made various All-State honor...

Seniors lace up for finale

By Wes Swietek | February 28, 1992

They've been backups, starters, goats, heroes, ice cold, sizzling hot, champions, also-rans, losers and winners. But above all, they've been Huskies. The they is Mike Hidden and Brian Molis, the two seniors who will be honored at Saturday's final regular-season...

Tourney looms for Huskies

By Wes Swietek | February 27, 1992

All the wins, all the losses, all the proverbial blood, sweat and tears that the Mid-Continent Conference teams have gone through this season are meaningless starting March 8. That's when the Mid-Con Tournament begins in Cleveland. A loss means automatic...

Raiders foreclose tenacious NIU

By Wes Swietek | February 26, 1992

The NIU men's basketball team proved to be as tenacious as a pack of bill collectors against Wright State last night. The Huskies overcame serious foul trouble and an emotional Raiders squad on Senior Recognition night to almost pull off the upset. But...

Foul trouble continues to plague NIU down stretch

By Wes Swietek | February 26, 1992

Did fatigue, or simply lack of depth, lead to foul trouble and spell the difference between two losses and two wins recently for the NIU men's basketball team? The Huskies have dropped three in a row with Saturday's 65-61 loss against Eastern Illinois...

Frustrated Wildcats offer next challenge

By Todd McMahon | February 25, 1992

Learning in life makes one better and stronger for the next challenge. With that in mind, the NIU women's basketball team will face Northwestern tonight (7 p.m.) at Chick Evans Field House with another ounce of experience tightly stored away. After being...

Simms ignites Huskies

By Roger Moreano | February 24, 1992

Freshman Marlin Simms has been waiting for his chance to do something big this season, and Saturday night it finally came. As the NIU men's basketball team saw its game against Eastern Illinois slowly start to slip away, Simms stepped up and hit two big...

EIU upstages NIU’s comeback

By Wes Swietek | February 24, 1992

It seemed that everything was going right for a dramatic come-from-behind win for the NIU men's basketball team Saturday—until the final seconds. With 4.3 seconds showing on the Chick Evans Field House scoreboard, Eastern Illinois' Curtis Leib scored...

Women rout WSU; men win too

By Todd McMahon | February 17, 1992

The NIU women's basketball team simply stole the fun from Wright State in record-breaking fashion Saturday. The Huskies (13-9, 7-2 in the North Star Conference) turned the Raiders in every possible direction while registering a school-record 37 steals...

Sign In

Register

Reset Password

Please enter your username or email address, you will receive a link to create a new password via email.