International Art Display at Richard Bland College
Richard Bland College of William & Mary has received a donation of three pieces of art from the international traveling show Papercuts, a four-year, twelve venue tour that features exquisite hand cut paper works by an international roster of artists.
Indoor Tornado, by Lenka Konopasek, is a paper construction that includes some found objects and extends over 13 feet. It is displayed in the entryway of the SSHE building. Konopasek hails from the Czech Republic where she attended the School of Applied Arts in Prague. After immigrating to the United States she earned a BFA from the University of Utah and an MFA from Maine College of Art.
Oil slick, by Michelle Forsyth, is a mix of watercolor and screen-printed paper shapes suggestive of an oil spill. Forsyth is a Toronto, Ontario-based artist. She holds an MFA from Rutgers University and a BFA from the University of Victoria. This exhibit will be displayed in the foyer of McNeer Hall.
Shadow Language, by Daniella Woolf, is a gridded installation of sewn paper and encaustic wax. Woolf is a California-based textile artist/painter who holds an MA in Textile Structures from UCLA and a BA from California State University. It will be displayed in the McNeer Hall faculty lounge.
“It is especially important to me to bring some contemporary art to the campus,” says Aimee Joyaux, Associate Dean of Instructional & Learning Resources, a prominent regional artist herself. “The three works getting installed on our campus speak to some of the political undercurrents that are very much a part of the conversations happening in the art world. Climate change is addressed in both the Oil Slick and Indoor Tornado pieces, and the gridded structure and weaving of Shadow Language speaks to organization manifesting from chaos. It’s easy to imagine engaging students across disciplines in discussions about systems thinking and the ways in which these works speak to actions and consequences related to humans and their relationship with the environment.”
All artwork will be on permanent display.
