The Richard F. Brush Art Gallery is in the Griffith Arts Center at the end of Noble. There is a current exhibition, “Visual Thinking: Recent Works by St. Lawrence University Studio Art Faculty,” which is active from Jan. 18 to Feb. 24. The Richard F. Brush Art Gallery always promotes creative expression and dialogue through art, which is certainly applicable with the most recent exhibition. The exhibition contained many art pieces about agriculture, sustainability, and plastic pollution. However, one of the aspects of this exhibition that stood out to me is that the entirety of it was created by faculty members. Sarah Knobel, who contributed multiple photographs to the exhibition, particularly stood out to me. Many of Knobel’s photographs were under the title “Synthetic Nature” and consisted of flowers and pieces of nature covered in plastic. The message I was getting was that the amount of plastic pollution is rising, and plastic is consuming and ruining all facets of nature. All natural aspects of natural life are slowly being invaded by plastic. There were certain flowers and pieces of grass consumed by plastic. All her photographs were alluring because there was a diversity of colors with a sad message behind them.
In the gallery, Sarah published an explanation for her photographs stating, “The series Synthetic Nature II is a response to my preoccupations with everyday consumption and how the natural and artificial worlds collide. I focus on the mundane waste of my family’s consumption, mainly plastic packaging, the sole purpose of which is to protect an item until it comes into our home… Placing these items in relationship with organically mutable materials, I experiment with how these plastic materials can evolve and have new relationships with nature.”
Knobel also elaborates on how she used photography to create opposing illusions which are both “optimistic and hostile, beautiful yet impulsive.” Knobel’s photographs bring attention to the amount of waste we produce and how this trend conflicts with nature. She adds, “I use this process to speculate on what the future might bring, and what potential traces will be left behind.”
The exhibition contained many art pieces that spoke on agriculture and plastic pollution and the entire gallery is very captivating. The gallery is free and open to the students, faculty members, and the public, so if you haven’t checked it out, I highly recommend you do so before Feb. 24. For more information, there are gallery talks with the involved artists Velma Boyard, Kasarian Dane, and Sarah Knobel on Monday, Feb. 6 at 4:30 pm and with artists Amy Hauber, Rachael Jones, Liza Paige, and Melissa Schulenburg on Monday, Feb. 20 at 4:30 pm.