Home | Back

'Gusher' and 'Landscrape,' created by a Kent artist, inspired by BP oil spill (WITH VIDEOS)

Share_print Print Story    |    Comments    |   

January 22, 2012
Photo courtesy of the Akron Art Museum This piece, “Hover Hive,” is one of three created by Kent artist Michelle Droll, and can be seen at the Akron Art Museum.
Photo courtesy of the Akron Art Museum This piece, “Hover Hive,” is one of three created by Kent artist Michelle Droll, and can be seen at the Akron Art Museum.
Photo courtesy of the Akron Art Museum “Gusher,” on the right, frames “Landscrape,” which was done on the wall. The two pieces are part of “Landslide: Between a Rock and a Place” and were created by Kent artist Michelle Droll.
Photo courtesy of the Akron Art Museum “Gusher,” on the right, frames “Landscrape,” which was done on the wall. The two pieces are part of “Landslide: Between a Rock and a Place” and were created by Kent artist Michelle Droll.

by April Helms |

Special Products Editor

Scraps of paint, packing materials and other "leftovers" of art become art and life itself with Kent artist Michelle Droll's three installation pieces, with the theme "Landslide / Between a Rock and a Place," on view at the Akron Art Museum.

The exhibit can be seen through Feb. 19.

The signature piece in the exhibit is "Gusher," whic occupies the center of the gallery space. Droll said she started constructing "Gusher" in the spring, and the piece had been in the planning stages since fall 2010.

"The first time I saw it all together was at the museum," Droll said. "It had built it in pieces. I had to know all my math would be correct."

"Gusher" was finally completed right at the opening, she added.

"I was working on it straight to the last minute," Droll said. "It was very up to the minute. I felt sorry for the docents."

Droll said the concept of "Gusher" was that of a large wave, and of landscape and nature extracting itself from pollution. The piece was inspired by the 2010 BP oil spill.

"Could nature get up and move, or flee?" she asked.

Ellen Rudolph, interim chief curator at the museum, said that the structure portrayed "a flock of birds lifting up the ocean and flying away with it" from the oil spill.

Droll said she used materials such as styrofoam, paint scraps, bubble wrap and other materials that were "sitting around the house."

Art for Droll is "somewhat of a second full-time job," she said. She also works for Dominion in IT. Droll has a BS in construction management and a master's degree n art.

"That gave me my entrance into engineering," she said.

Droll said the works on exhibit at the Akron Art Museum were the most challenging she had undertaken." She added she would like to exhibit them elsewhere, although as of now there were no future exhibition plans.

"There's no show right now, but you never know," Droll said. "Opportunity often begets another."

Rudolph said that the museum had commissioned Droll to do "a site specific installation for the gallery."

"This work is very sculptural," she said. "She considers herself a landscape painter."

OTHER LANDSCAPE EXHIBITS

The Akron Art Museum has several exhibits highlighting landscapes that will close either next month or in March, in addition to "Landsliede / Between a Rock and a Place."

Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism, an exhibition of more than 50 of the finest examples of French and American impressionist landscapes from the collection of the Brooklyn Museum as well as American impressionist paintings from the Akron Art Museum, closes Feb. 5.

Works by leading French artists such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissaro and Gustave Courbet hang in the same galleries as some of their significant American followers including John Singer Sargent and Childe Hassam.

In SuperNatural: Landscapes by Bruce Checefsky and Barry Underwood, on view through March 4 in the Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell Gallery, these Cleveland artists utilize the effects of atmospheric light in addition to outside light sources to create ephemeral moments in the landscape. Their inventive use of photography and light alters our perception of the landscape to reveal unseen aspects.

INFORMATION

The Akron Art Museum is at One S. High. Hours are Wenesdays, and Fridays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Adult general admission is $7, students and seniors 65 and older are $5, and children 12 and under are free. Museum members are free.

On the first Sunday of every month, individual admission to the collection is free. Special exhibitions may require paid admission. No tours available on these days.

For details, call 330-376-9185 or visit www.akronartmuseum.org.

E-mail: ahelms@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3153




Comments
By Posting to this site, you agree to our Terms of Service Be polite. Inappropriate posts may be removed. Hudsonhubtimes.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.

Login above or Register to comment.
 0 Total Comments Home | Back