11/30/07

A broken arm might spell disaster for many sculptors, but senior Alex Beam-Ward overcame his busted arm to complete his senior show.

“He had to completely rearrange his thoughts and rethink his style,” Professor of Art Inge Balch said. “He’s never made a tile in his life.”

The Holt-Russell Gallery opened Tuesday for the beginning of Beam-Ward’s senior show. The exhibit, entitled “Sights and Sounds,” features a collection of tiles containing silhouettes of pictures taken by Beam-Ward.

“All the pictures are images from the Walnut Valley Music Festival,” Beam-Ward said. “The images are glazed onto the tiles.”

Beam-Ward got his inspiration from an unusual source.

“I was just flipping through a ceramics magazine,” he said. “It just kind of came to me.”

“Sights and Sounds” features 25 of Beam-Ward’s pieces. The tiles range from large groups to smaller, singular pieces. The silhouettes differ in content from washboard players to portable toilets. The differences of each of the pieces describe a different aspect of the festival.

“Some of them are pretty funny,” Beam-Ward said. “I’m trying to show the whole experience.”

Beam-Ward said the process of making each of the pieces was long and difficult.

“I’ve been working eight hours a day,” he said.

To make the pieces, Beam-Ward had to select the photos, print them, copy the image, cut out the tiles, finish the tiles, apply coloring, fire the tiles, glaze them and then finally fire them a second time. Balch said Beam-Ward spent between 12-18 hours a week working on his pieces.

“He’s been putting in as much work as a graduate student,” Balch said.

After all the pieces were made, Beam-Ward still had to mount and place all the pieces in the gallery.

“This was back-breaking work,” Mike Stallings, a friend of Beam-Ward who helped him set up the show, said.

Beam-Ward said music was an integral part of his creative process. Therefore, Bluegrass music could be heard playing in the background during the showing to provide attendees with a perspective on the role of music.

Many people enjoyed the mixture of art and music during the art show.

“It enhances the art,” freshman Katey Chandler said. “It was a good choice to have the music.”

“Sights and Sounds” will continue to hang in the Holt-Russell Gallery until commencement in December.