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BROCK COMMONS |
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Recent Installations Red Leaf Artist’s Statement In my work a reference to the systems of nature intersects with ideas of systems of the body. The veiny yearning branches of trees, or interconnected ripples of water s About the Artist Cathrin Hoskinson's work has been exhibited across the country and is featured in collections in the United States and Canada. She received a B.F.A in sculpture from the State University of New York (Purchase) along with one in printmaking from Concordia University in Montreal. Then she earned her M.F.A. from Hunter College in New York. Her work has been praised as "adept," "versatile," and "sophisticated" by the Gannet Newspapers, and The New York Times noted that her "combination of simplicity and strangeness is alluring."
David Boyajian (Danbury, CT) David Boyajian
Public art should be accessible and evoke a sense of reason. If the art is to communicate, it must entice and motivate those who live and work among it to ask questions and in doing so tempt their imagination. When this happens, the process of the collective creative journey begins. Ultimately this should stimulate the viewers’ own creative responses to their surroundings. Public art is for the people. About the Artist David Boyajian has exhibited his award-winning sculpture internationally. He received his BFA from Alfred University in New York, and he earned his MFA from the Rinehart School of Scupture at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. A resident of Connecticut, he teaches at his own studio, the Sculpture Barn; at the Silvermine School of Art; and at Norwalk Community College. His works have appeared in ten states across the east coast as well as in Japan. He has executed dozens of commissions for public venues – including firehouses, libraries, and schools; corporate clients – such as Pepsi Co., Citizens Utilities and CPG Architectures; and a number of private collections.
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About the Artist: Retired from teaching sculpture, drawing, and art education at Radford University, Charlie Brouwer has shown his work in nearly 200 exhibitions worldwide. Nationally, his work has been displayed in Arkansas, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin; internationally, in Australia, Hungary, and Poland. From Whence Cometh My Help? will travel from Charlottesville, where it was featured in the Art-in-Place program for 2006-2007. return to list of current artists
Sited between Grainger and Lancaster halls, Bloom (Steel Hide) is a large-scale spherical form constructed from steel and painted with enamel and graphite paint. In this piece artist Kendall Buster focuses on the underlying structure of natural forms. Of Bloomand similar works in her oeuvre she states, “These architectural structures often occupy a territory where ‘nature and machine’ might meet. Combined, for example, are dirigible and chrysalis, belly and cage, honeycomb and subterranean vault. But central to each of the works—whether the interior is exposed like a dissected specimen for entry, or an enclosure is punctured with a tight opening—is an interplay between what is revealed and what is concealed. Viewing slots link exterior with interior space and create framed sight-lines. Narrow entryways and low passages act in direct confrontation with the body, compressing space and directing movement. At times one is hidden, at times one is exposed. There is a contradictory promise of protection and trap.” Kendall Buster is an associate professor in the Department of Sculpture and Extended Media at Virginia Commonwealth University. Art in America reported in March of 2004, “Kendall Buster has been aptly called the ‘dyna-mite’ of American sculpture. She is of diminutive stature and makes monumentally powerful, often huge sculptures. A tornado of energy, she pushes a vision that varies from minimalist, quasi-architectural purity to funky playfulness.” Kendall Buster received her master’s degree in sculpture from Yale University and has exhibited her work internationally. Her works can be found in major collections including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. return to list of current artists
Christopher Fennell (Birmingham, Alabama) Artist’s Statement: The materials I use have been cast out by society, for example: demolished barns, broken bicycles and downed trees. I transform these objects into dynamic pieces and connect them into recognizable shapes of waves, tornados, and pillars of fire.
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Artist’s Statement: I try to combine the organic and the man-made. Ideally, I’d like to think that nature and industry aren’t really opposites, but more like complementary terms. My goal is to create finished compositions that leave the viewer with the comfort of familiarity and the uncertainty of not being able to truly identify or categorize any of the forms. About the Artist: Mike Hansel heads the art department at St. George’s School and teaches art at Salve Regina University, both in Newport, Rhode Island. His large-scale steel sculptures combine mechanical and organic forms and have been exhibited in Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, and Virginia. Intestinal Fortitude won the “Best of Show” award at the 2005 Port Warwick Art and Sculpture Festival in Newport News. return to list of current artists Jonathan Hils (Norman, OK)
About the Artist return to list of current artists Ledelle Moe (Baltimore, MD) About the artist: Ledelle Moe was born in Durban, South Africa in 1971. A travel grant in 1994 brought her to the United States, where she earned a master’s degree at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). She now teaches in the Sculpture Department at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, Maryland. Moe has exhibited in venues in the United States and Austria, South Africa, and Sweden. Presently based in Baltimore, she continues to work on large-scale pieces and travels home annually to work and visit in South Africa. In 2008, she received the Kreeger Museum Artist Award, a biennial recognition of excellence, creativity, and influence among DC-area artists. return to list of current artists
Lucy Slivinski (Chicago, IL) Lucy Slivinski worked tirelessly on site at Longwood for nearly two weeks to create her latest sculpture, Grace. The large-scale tree form constructed from steel and automobile taillights is located between Jarman and the new science building. Well known nationally for her sculptures that combine recycled elements to create naturalistic forms, Slivinski used salvaged angle iron frames welded together to form a “tree trunk” for Grace. She completed the tree form with limbs made of a woven wire mesh constructed by weaving and welding steel 3/8”-1/4” wire and salvaged automobile taillights. During the course of the day the ever-changing natural light illuminates the translucent red taillights, giving the piece color and intensity. Slivinski intends for the work to inspire a dialogue amongst the campus community about “nature verses industry.” Slivinski states, “The contrast produced by using discarded industrial materials in an organic form such as a tree conjures many questions. Does nature support industry? Does industry support nature?” Margaret Hawkins, an art critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote about Slivinski, “The potential beauty of junk has become an axiom in art, and its worth is doubled when we add in the value of recycling. Lucy Slivinski is one of these artists who uses industrial material, at least some of which has been thrown away, to create objects which appear oddly natural. . . . She means to draw a parallel between the choppy progress of our society and its more graceful counterpart in nature. While an insect leaves behind a beautifully fitted shell that soon turns to dust, factories throw off heaps of rusty metal. Slivinski finds her industrial materials lovely, though, and through her eyes so can we.” Lucy Slivinski received her master of fine arts degree in fiber from Cranbrook Academy of Art (Bloomfield Hills, Michigan) and her bachelor of fine arts from Northern Illinois University (Dekalb, Illinois). Her work has been exhibited at Navy Pier, Grant Park, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Field Museum in Chicago as well as at Albion College (Michigan), Beloit College (Wisconsin), San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Illinois State Museum, among many others. She is represented by Phyllis Kind Gallery (New York, New York). return to list of current artists
Brock Commons Outdoor Sculpture Program Established in 2004, Longwood University’s Brock Commons Outdoor Sculpture Program has prominently placed on campus a variety of sculpture by nationally known artists. The sculpture program’s purpose is to bring to campus contemporary art and artists to foster intellectual discourse and illuminate the creative process, and to provide an aesthetic environment in which the visual arts can be appreciated on a daily basis. Each year, three artists will complete a residency during which they will install their work with students and present collateral lectures for the campus. Graduating art students select the works based on the artistic merit of the project, evidence of the artist’s experience with producing large public outdoor work, ability of the works to inspire meaningful intellectual discourse, and the appropriateness of the project for the Longwood community. The Brock Commons Sculpture Program is made possible by the Longwood University Art Department, the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts, the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the Office of Facilities Management. |
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eek to give a physical presence to ephemeral ideas about the self or its memory of place. The work is made of cut out aluminum or brass sheet, copper and aluminum screening, wood and bronze. They are formed into fragile lines which create an interaction of color and shadow with their surroundings. As if I am writing a poem, the different materials and forms combine metaphors, but in the end the object takes on a presence of its own. My work is an ongoing enquiry into structures, both the specific forms of the hand, spinal column, rib cage, ladder, garment, etc. and the geometric patterns observed in nature. I find myself making tracings as if trying to figure out a puzzle.
Charlie Brouwer (Floyd, Virginia) 
About the Artist
Mike Hansel (Newport, Rhode Island)
Artist’s Statement
