Feature Articles


September Issue 2000

Francis Marion University in Florence, SC, Features Three New Exhibits

Ceramics by Elizabeth Kirven and works in pastel on paper by Jim Boden,will be display through Oct. 6 in the Hyman Fine Arts Center gallery on the Francis Marion University campus in Florence, SC. Also, factory-printed textiles from the collection of Alice Burmeister will be on display in the Smith University Center art gallery through Nov. 3.

Elizabeth Kirven received the BFA degree from Temple University's Tyler School of Art. Now residing in the Pee Dee area of SC, she works primarily in low-fire white earthenware. Her pieces are hand built and/or hand thrown and assembled. Kirven's non-traditional use of commercial glazes involves unconventional juxtaposition of color and texture. A single piece may go through as many as 12 different firings to achieve the desired effect. Semi-precious stones, paint and other media are incorporated into many of the pieces.

"The works of spirit dance started out as energy," Kirven said. "The energy evolved into an idea, which evolved into a form. Each form represents a certain aspect of spirit, or a soul's vision. Everything in life has a rhythm and in essence we are all dancing to this rhythm; this vision will continue to the realm of infinity as energy never dies."

Passages to Flesh Fields, by Jim Boden includes 13 works, all of which are pastel on paper.

"We speak of our stomachs 'twisted in knots' or 'hearts skipping a beat' and other tangible visions of our internal palpitations and twitches," Boden said. "This loose umbrella of an idea was the start of the Passages series fragments or moments of an internal journey."

Boden, a native of St. Paul, MN, earned his BS degree in art education from the University of Minnesota and the MFA degree from the University of Cincinnati. He is an assistant professor of fine art at Coker College in Hartsville, SC.

Boden's work has appeared in numerous individual and group exhibits across the country and he has won many awards for his artwork. He has also served as a guest lecturer and visiting artist at several colleges and universities.

West African factory-printed textiles from the collection of Alice Burmeister will be displayed through Nov. 3 in the Smith University Center art gallery.

During the summer of 1999, Burmeister, an assistant professor of art history at Winthrop University, in Rock Hill, SC, studied factory-printed textiles produced at the Sonitextil Factory in Niamey, Niger, as well as textiles produced in neighboring African countries that were for sale in local marketplaces. She also interviewed cloth merchants, tailors and the primarily female consumers of the textiles.

"Such textiles, brightly-colored and boldly graphic in design, often feature a wide variety of social, political and religious slogans and imagery," Burmeister said. "In addition to being both visually striking and pleasing to the eye, cloth may also be designed to communicate important cultural messages or ideologies. The creative design, production and wearing of such cloth in the West African context clearly attests to its potency as a form of artistry, as well as its efficacy as a vehicle for social expression."

For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings or call Todd Hudak at 843/661-1227, e-mail at (thudak@fmarion.edu) or on the web at (http://www.fmarion.edu/famc/artscal.htm).

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