The photography area of Wonsook Kim School of Art at Illinois State University is excited to present Exposures, the fifth exhibition featured at the Illinois State University Student Art Gallery within the Central Illinois Regional Airport (CIRA), located across from the main entryway inside the terminal building at 3201 E. Empire St., in Bloomington. Gallery hours are consistent with the operating hours of the airport. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
Exposures is on view through September 5, 2021. A closing reception is planned for August 25, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Exposures features the work of five students and reflects work that not only spans the depth and breadth of its student body, but also highlights a range of the photographic medium.
Using a variety of techniques and approaches, from documentary storytelling to abstract studies of the body to cameraless photograms, these student artists have chosen to use photography as an avenue for creative expression. Students who enroll in photography courses at the Wonsook Kim School of Art come from a range of majors and possess various levels of experience with photography, but each student brings their own sensibilities and interests into their work.
Toni DiPrima ’22 (B.F.A. art) poignantly pairs image and text by placing her grandparents’ love letters and other remembrances directly on light-sensitive photographic paper in Love Bill. DiPrima then exposes and develops the image in the black-and-white darkroom, creating one-of-a-kind photograms that bring a love story back to life with haunting beauty.
In her moving series Love Never Dies, Hyojung Lee ‘22 (B.F.A. graphic design) photographs the many ways her mother-in-law honors the memory of her late husband after 46 years of marriage, a testimony to enduring love even after death.
Matt Frostman’s, ‘21 (B.A. photography) Sensus Coporis features close-up studies of body surfaces that document scars of past sports injuries, including wrestling, track, and football, using dramatic lighting and strong contrast in black and white.
In Touch, Katherine Vernon ‘21 (B.F.A. photography) evokes a sense of tactile intimacy with soft colors, translucent materials, and close cropping. Printed onto canvas inkjet paper from scanned color negatives and hung directly from the wall, the work also explores materiality of photography.
In her project Dancing in Quarantine, Shahrzad Hamzeh’s ‘20 (M.A. theatre studies) dynamic images of masked dancers on Illinois State’s verdant campus show viewers an important lesson we have all learned in the face of a year of unprecedented challenges. Hamzeh’s photographs demonstrate that regardless of the circumstances, we will overcome the trials and tribulations of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic through resilience, grace, and creativity.
Exposures is curated by Illinois State University Professor of Photography Jin Lee and Assistant Professor of Photography Jason Reblando.
The Student Art Gallery within the Central Illinois Regional Airport is a mission-central component of the Wonsook Kim School of Art at Illinois State University. For more information, visit FineArts.IllinoisState.Edu/Airport-Gallery. To arrange a special accommodation, please contact Wonsook Kim School of Art at Art@IllinoisState.edu or (309) 438-5622. Follow the Wonsook Kim School of Art on Facebook.
