By Onika Davis, Aquinas Reporter
Nov. 1 marked the first day of the opening reception featuring art pieces from Mariel Versluis, Carol Jurgens and Jade Lin.
“I chose the three artists because I saw connections in their poetic approach to their work,” said Dana Freeman, the event organizer. “I also saw a kind of buoyancy to their work, be it the small explosions of Lin’s mark-making, floating world of Versluis’ animals, or flower bombs in Jurgens’ imagery.”
Exhibit of a sample of Mariel Versluis’ printworks – Photo by Onika Davis
Versluis’ works consist primarily of photo transfer prints on Kitakata paper. Most of her work gives an airy sensation of abstractness. Versluis’ prints also include themes of lost loved ones including people and pets.
Ceramic vase by Jade Lin – Photo by Onika Davis
Jade Lin’s art pieces, as quoted from the gallery exhibit, “draw inspiration from the traditional Chinese ceramics and contemporary Western sculptural discipline. Lin primarily works with porcelain and black stoneware.” Lin also uses her own studio in Grand Rapids where she glazes and fires all of the pieces in her studio.
Paper “Bombs” by Carol Jurgens – Photo by Onika Davis
According to an excerpt in the exhibit, Jurgens’ gallery display is built around “the cultural phenomena of a physical and personal war.” Her artwork reflects this through the origami sculptures of paper bombs and airplanes made of maps. Her display also includes a haiku written by her which was inspired by an illustration her grandson had drawn.
The three artists are connected through their themes of visual poetry to convey their message to viewers as well as, “an elegy, with themes of loss that are personal in Versluis’ prints as she says farewell to pets and people, and is for humanity as Jurgens excavates her father’s service in the South Pacific during World War II,” said Dana Freeman.
The Saint 