Project Open Call & Twin Visions

Alyssa VanPelt-Cathcart, Staff Writer

From October 1st to the 26th, the art department is featuring work from Sean Eaves and several others in the Fine Arts Open Space Gallery. The reception for the featured art was October 24th, 2024, from 5 P.M. to 7 P.M.  

Project Open Call is a collection of artworks both in 2D and 3D from students and an alumnus of SUNY Oneonta. Artists featured are Lulu Q. Burkowski, Michael Conte, Jeanine Gonzalez, Sarah Green, Victoria Hallenbeck, Kento Igarashi, Olivia Rose MacGiffert, Izzy Madori, and Lexi Rockefeller. 

 Burkowski had hand-drawn images of rabbits in a children’s book aesthetic, it seemed to have the same energy as the Frog & Toad stories. Burkowski explains that she has an interest in creating children’s books. When asked if she would be writing the book as well as illustrating them, she said she’d be willing to do both. 

 Madori created her first ever sculpture that relied on two metal playing cards to balance with each other. The playing cards created a visually pleasing shadow when shown against light. According to Madori, the tension of it needing to be balanced is intentional, as it plays into her commentary on mental health. It demonstrates both strength and vulnerability.  

An alumni, Hallenbeck, created full-body portraits of herself. She was assigned to do a portrait for a course but found that doing the proportion of the face would be difficult, so she opted to do her whole frame as she is good at drawing fabric. She wanted to play around with the border of the paper and pose so that the fabric would be moving. In one of her pieces, she experimented with sewing to add more texture to the work. 

Sean Eaves, a photography major and current Junior, has been doing photography for eight years. His project, Twin Visions, which is displayed at the Open Space Gallery, began last year in 2023. His first photo in the collection is titled Skydance which relies on double exposure. Double exposure is the process of overlaying one photo onto another. This is done solely using his digital camera as he finds two scenes within a short period of time to capture. According to Eaves, there is a charm to the randomness of photographing in this style as it can often be unplanned.  

Professor Wesley Barnard saw Skydance and encouraged him to do a show using double exposure as the theme.  Bernard has been a professor at SUNY Oneonta for eight years where he is an Assistant Professor in the art department. He specializes in photography. Bernard has been Eaves professor and is always encouraging his students to apply for gallery space and grants. He believes this is the best way for students to network and gain experience within the field of art. Eaves hopes to do freelance work after his graduation at SUNY Oneonta.  

All of the pieces in this exhibition speak to the character of each artist from their unique ideals of creativity, the styles of art they love, or the messages they hope to bring across. There is much hope and love going out to these artists to have a successful future in their passions.