Bachelors of Fine Arts show on display in the EWU Gallery of Art until May 9

Students from the Bachelor of Fine Arts program at EWU put down their paint brushes and made a splash at the opening of this year’s Bachelor of Fine Arts showcase “Cable TV Heated Pool.”

The showcase, located in the EWU Gallery of Art, features works by Lauren Phillips, Christi Montgomery, Erin Mielcarek, Inga Ilich and Eric Edvalson, and will run April 26 to May 9.

During the spring quarter of their junior year, students enrolled in the Bachelor of Art in studio art program submit portfolios for consideration for admission to the Bachelor of Fine Arts program, which is a more intensive art program designed to help students prepare to either pursue professional careers as artists or pursue a Masters of Fine Arts degree. In the spring quarter of their senior year, students who have been accepted in the program showcase their works.

Elisa Nappa, BFA program adviser, said the range of the five students’ work is diverse, from video to ceramics to painting.

“Inga [Ilich] has a pretty unique inspiration of like a Pac-Man video game, like an old video game,” Nappa said. “Eric is more conceptually based in sculpture and Erin [Mielcarek] does more formal ceramics. Christi [Montgomery] has been doing these night scenes in her painting and Lauren [Phillips] is more surreal in her painting.”

“I think it’s a fabulous show, and I think it’s great when students and faculty come to support their peers,” Nappa said.

Mielcarek, a ceramics major, will be showing five ceramic pieces and one painting in the showcase.

Mielcarek described her work as, “sculptural, kind of minimalist … abstract” and said it deals with motion or movement.

Mielcarek said the two pieces she is most proud of are her newest work, “Night” and “Wu Li,” both of which will be showcased.

“It’s been really fun, a great learning experience,” she said.

Mielcarek, a ceramics major, will be showing five ceramic pieces and one painting in the showcase.

Mielcarek described her work as, “sculptural, kind of minimalist…abstract” and said it deals with motion or movement.

Mielcarek said the two pieces she is most proud of are her newest work, “Night” and “Wu Li,” both of which will be showcased.

“It’s been really fun, a great learning experience,” she said.

Mielcarek plans to pursue a professional career as an artist, get her masters degree in fine arts and possibly teach at a college level after graduation from EWU.

Ilich, who is majoring in studio art with a focus on alternative media, will be showcasing her piece “Fashion Quest,” as well as drawings.

Ilich described “Fashion Quest” as a video of a video game in which the main character, Inga, collects fashion. She described it as ironic, the idea behind it being to show “way too much consumerism.”

Ilich said she feels influenced by media and consumerism. She said that while she enjoys things like cosmetics and clothes, she is concerned about the repercussions of purchasing and using them.

“I love all this stuff, but at the same time I’m really concerned about it because it is destroying the planet– our habits for over-consumption and greed and materialism,” she said. “I read a fact somewhere that if everyone lived like an American, we would need to have six planets, six earths, to sustain everybody, so it’s destroying the world.”

“When I’m going to school here I can show a different light on it, rather than just giving people just a pleasant product.”

Ilich said the name of the show was inspired by paint chips, an idea reflected in the showcase flier.

“They had these pretty silly names that were pretty evocative. One was called dive and another was called sprinkler. One was even called gherkin,which was really weird,” she said.

According to Ilich, the group voted on what paint chip name they would choose if they had their own.

Ilich said the group selected “Cable TV Heated Pool” because of its duality. She said that the name evokes the feeling of luxury, but also a sense of seediness and disillusionment, motifs she says are present in some of the pieces being showcased.

“Everybody’s working with completely different work and working on completely different concepts,” Ilich said.

Ilich said creating her art for the showcase felt like a ritual project in which she could go into the fantasy world she had created and collect all of the fashion and consumer goods she desired. Afterward, Ilich said, she felt as though she no longer needed to actually consume these items because the experience of her piece was overwhelming.

“It’s sort of fun to mess with your head and see how it makes you feel and how it satisfies,” Ilich said.

“It’s about trying to express your view on the world and maybe your view on the world isn’t so simple that you can say it in words,” Ilich said.