PRINTPaper-winning presence
Columbia College grades artists' paper
Ben Dillon
Untitled (feet) by Katy Malone
February 21, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
The “Paper in Particular” exhibit at Columbia College houses enough paper to make a forest cry, but there’s no need for tree huggers to fret. Entries such as Victoria Burkert’s Construction Site 2 emphasize the need to save trees. While studying at Northwest Missouri State University, Burkert witnessed trees being torn down to build the Fire Arts Building on campus. When she moved to Columbia and heard about “Paper in Particular,” Burkert gathered photos she’d taken of the construction in Maryville. “On weekends I would jump over the fence to take photos of the site,” Burkert says. With pencils and paintbrushes, the artist hand-painted her entry using ink. “I understand construction and growth,” says Burkert. “We should find a way to work around nature. It bothers me that we tear down property, plow it over and build big houses.”
The creator of the contest, Ben Cameron, launched the exhibit in 1979. This year’s show includes drawings, paintings, printmaking, pulp, photography and installations. “There are no limits,” Cameron says. “We’ll take anything on and of paper.”
Bad Girls by Frances Watson
The Larson Gallery
The contest gives starving artists a chance to get artwork exposed at a low cost. “I’m cheap,” Cameron says. “It usually costs $45 to $50 to enter an art show. I charge $15, and that’s attractive.” Out of 548 applicants, 90 entries were chosen. Submissions were judged by presence, quality and honesty.
For some entrants, creating art can be as easy as cleaning out the lint trap in a dryer. Jake Wells’ Lintscape is constructed of dryer lint glued to different forms including a toilet seat and a kitchen countertop. He probably should have included a notice: much assembly required. It took a graduate student from Columbia College three hours to put together the installation, which arrived in two cardboard boxes.
Hanging behind Lintscape, Melanie Lowrance’s Waiting for August is anything but just another sheet of paper. After working on large-scale paintings, Lowrance became hyperaware of her physical and emotional state during pregnancy and turned to pastels so that she would be free from toxic fumes. “I wanted to capture the intimate detail of weight shifting,” Lowrance says. “At the same time, I wanted to convey the emotional quality through the gesture of figure, elevating an ordinary occurrence by making the figure monumental.”
It is an affirmative experience for the artists on display. “Paper in Particular” judge Robert Mueller says, “There is a need and drive for artists to have work viewed and judged.”
