ASC graduate thesis exhibit now in Cloyde Snook Gallery

(11-30-2007)

Working full-time and pursuing a master's degree in art climaxes for Adams State College graduate students, Krista Karpel, Linda Pacheco-Demski, and Benn Quinn in their combined art exhibit in the Cloyde Snook Gallery. The show closes with a reception from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 14.

Karpel, Durango high school art teacher; Quinn, head of the Norwood School District K-12 Art Department; and Pacheco-Demski, support coordinator for the Adams State READ/ELA Grant; spent months dividing their time between work, studio, and family in order to achieve their goals. Karpel's paintings and the ceramic sculptures of Quinn and Pacheco-Demski fill the Cloyde Snook Gallery with light and color.

Karpel graduate thesis, "My Visual Identity" represents an investigation into how to use the pure elements of color, line, shape, value and texture to visually represent various aspects of her identity. "Art is the most effective manner to investigate my visual identity because it has always been a consistent part of my life and it is a powerful and effective tool for self expression," she said. "Artists alone maintain the ability to create using a form of communication that can be understood by the majority of humanity. Because of art's ability to be easily interpreted by so many, it has been used to explore nearly every aspect of humanity. However, it has been most effective in exploring humanity itself."

Pacheco-Demski said her fascination with clay began as an undergraduate at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. After moving to Colorado, she continued her study of ceramics at several universities and other facilities throughout the state.

Primarily a hand-builder, Pacheco-Demski has concentrated on conceptual serving ware for her thesis work, "Not My Mother's Serving Ware," which pokes fun at the serving dishes owned by her mother. "Through its use of texture, color, and imagery it exhibits the fun and lightheartedness that serving ware can possess," she said. "Inspiration for this body of work came from observing my mother's serving dishes while growing up, and as an adult. This work shows some inventive new looks for serving ware even though some of it is not functional."

Quinn graduated from Adams State with a bachelor's degree in art and K-12 art education in 2004. Quinn's abstract expressionist ceramic sculptures, "Con/De-Struction," reflect his personal experiences in life.

The first graduate from the newly formed bachelor of fine arts degree, Shane Johnson, will exhibit his reflection-themed photographs in the Hatfield Gallery during the same time frame.

The galleries hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information contact the Art Department at 719-587-7823.

By Linda Relyea