On Monday, Oct. 30, two student artists opened their shows in the Lucacks Gallery, which is the show space in the basement of Loyola Hall at Fairfield University.
Senior Jared DiPietro will be showcasing his photography project titled “Inner Space” and Leslie M. Gasper ‘22 will showcase her multimedia project “Directional Shifts.”
DiPietro is an integrated marketing communications and studio art double major.
He states, “I was eager to take this class because I have never had my own exhibition. In fact, I’ve never had any sort of showing before. It’s been really great to hone in on a singular series and spend an extended period of time on it.”
In thinking about his project, he wanted to focus on capturing the relationships he has with his closest friends.
“In most cases, the most meaningful experiences I have with my friends are the conversations we share. I wanted to depict this through my work. For this series, I felt like taking simple portraits of my friends didn’t convey a message,” DiPietro said, continuing on, “I wanted to be part of this work as I am part of the discussion, so I included myself in it. In all of the images, the viewer is able to see me as a reflection in a mirror, or some other part of myself in the foreground.”
He continues that he wanted to keep a common background to see how his friends would interact “with the stage set for them.”
He set up a studio light in his living room, and just tried to take photos of his friends who were in the living room, attempting to “document it in real time.”
He adds that he shot exclusively at night, and then retouched all of the images with matching color corrections, so they’d all have a “cooler tone” to emphasize the nighttime.
“The cool tones give a dreamlike quality, while the faded colors are reminiscent of the present already becoming the past; the “now” fading into memory” DiPietro states.
Gasper is a long-time, non-traditional student and states she’s, “… just loving everything about my studies.”
Her project, “Directional Shifts” sees her using the process of cyanotyping, a photographic process where chemicals and light create prints of images.
Gasper states in her artist’s statement, “Just as nature creates seemingly random beauty with chemicals, sunlight, water and time, unique worlds appear when I apply chemicals and natural materials to paper to make Cyanotypes…”
Her exhibit can be seen in two parts. Her first, “Directional Shifts: Micro View” features photographs that, “…capture the evolving reactions between chemistry, sunlight and paper.”
She adds that these images become abstract and are “evocative earthscapes viewed from space.”
Then in her other section “Directional Shifts: Macro View”, the cyanotypes can be viewed, as she creates her art with “the last clearing wash of water” on the cyanotype paper.
“The multi-colored micro views of the earthscapes become macro vistas of blue and white galaxies or oceans of moving water,” Gasper adds, continuing that, “This directional shift in focus in both sections creates a sense of intimacy and expansion between the viewer, the beautiful little planet we live on, and the vast universe above.”
The exhibition will be open to the public in the Lucacks Gallery until Nov. 14, 2021. Though closed on the weekends, it will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the week.
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