Burned out on figures, SWIC faculty artists explore social injustice

At least two of the Southwestern Illinois College’s art department’s faculty are showing their skills in new forms at the Schmidt Art Faculty Exhibition.

“Lately I’ve been interested in the genre of landscape; I’d always been a figure artist,” said Paula Haniszewski, the art department chair.

“I had two big shows in 2016 and kind of burned out — so let’s see what happens” with landscapes, she said of the shift.

Paula has three landscapes at the exhibit, none of which are traditional landscapes. One is an areal made of watercolors — and glitters and stickers — depicting a rural farm. Next to it is a lineup of suburban homes, and around the corner is a large painting featuring a golf course with a floating gypsy wagon and stylized trees, as well as a golfer relieving himself.

“Really thinking about ... the idea of territory,” inspired the painting, she said.

Albert Yowshien Kuo, who teaches design and art appreciation at SWIC as well as St. Louis Community College, also recently went from painting figures to landscapes.

His fabric pieces are brightly colored and organic shapes, purposefully “undefinable.”

“A lot of these pieces define social injustice,” he said. “It describes how we should see one another without stereotypes” just as the shapes are not a strict circle or oval.

His piece called “The Dividing Line But An Attempt To Close The Gap (After Michelangelo’s Sistene)” is priced at $3,800.

Most of the faculty’s work line the walls of the Schmidt, but Emily Dunlap’s takes up floor space.

She created a life-sized all-terrain vehicle out of paper mache and covered it in a wedding dress. Titled “Mama Says He’s the Best in Town,” it’s priced at $5,800.

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 9:00 AM with the headline "Burned out on figures, SWIC faculty artists explore social injustice."