When conjuring up adjectives to describe the Notre Dame faculty, words like experienced, articulate and astute may come to mind. But artistically talented? Absolutely.

This month, the Snite Museum of Art presents a free, public exhibit created by the faculty of the Department of Art, Art History, and Design showcasing the talent and imagination of several Notre Dame professors. Selected works of emeriti faculty are also included in the show. The exhibit features paintings, sculptures and photographs expressing a commentary on contemporary life and includes furniture created from recycled materials, wood-fired stoneware and digital photography.

The showÕs pieces are diverse and each is unique from the next. Upon entering the exhibit, an enormous structure looms before the visitor, filling most of the spacious room. This mountainous paper and cardboard structure, appropriately titled ÒMountain WaitsÓ, is a tribute to artist Martin Lam NguyenÕs home of Vietnam. He completes an impressive and dominant study of the mountains awaiting his homecoming with only ink, paper and wood.

Smaller, but just as eye-catching are Maria TomasulaÕs paintings. Typical Latin-American religious art, her Òexaggerated visual dramas magnify and fuse the seeming opposite of sensate experience and mystical intuitionÓ and have an enigmatic distinction about them. Her work employs highly stylized, bold colors and unusual subjects, causing the viewer to take a second glance at her work. For example, one of TomasulaÕs paintings includes a bejeweled steak and another contains hummingbirds that have been silenced by flowering vines.

Associate professor Paul DownÕs paintings were created as a protest to Òincrease efficiency and decrease complexity of a hybrid electric powered [jet pump] propulsionÓ for personal watercrafts. Down creates and showcases these more efficient boat engines using vibrant colors and precise brushstrokes, causing his work to appear multi-dimensional.

One of the most interesting sets in this exhibit is Jean DibbleÕs series, ÒThe Life in Physics.Ó Her work features giant images of several distinctive sculptures surrounded by different mathematical laws, Òexpressions of the understanding and conviction that human-made things reflect and are governed by the same universal laws as those expressed in the elegant and complex diagrams and equation of physicists.Ó The photographs, combined with modern textbook physics, entwine two ordinarily unrelated subjects with sophistication and elegance, making ÒPhysicsÓ one of the exhibitÕs most interesting collections.

ÒThe Performance of PerfectionÓ series requires the spectator to take a second and closer look at Richard GrayÕs exploration of human identity. In ÒPerfectionÓ, faceless, sexless, out-of-focus bodies are frozen in time, striking different acrobatic poses, flanked by mathematical signs and encased in metal frames. Discussing his work, Down remarked that Òidentity has become a performance of perfection É overshadowing the reciprocal value of the human flaw.Ó

Austin CollinsÕ computer graveyard, entitled ÒTECHNOPHILIAÓ, is a reflection of societyÕs prevalent use of technology. These ÒadvancesÓ have improved our lives, but consequently are producing a plastic wasteland that will eventually Òbury the earth.Ó Using concrete coffins filled with defunct CDs, computer monitors and telephones, CollinsÕ work leaves an ominous, yet introspective effect on the viewer.

The show highlights the many talents of the Notre Dame faculty through the diversity of the pieces exhibited. Each artistÕs work differs in content and style, yet expresses a distinct idea about contemporary life. This is an exhibit as interesting for its contrasts as for its contents and is certainly worth a visit.

Notre Dame boasts an extremely talented faculty and students should go the Snite Museum and observe their work. For a chance to meet the artists and discuss their work, the Snite is holding a reception on Friday, Sept. 12 form 5-7 p.m. in the museum, and is open to the public and free of charge.

• A little closer to home
  
• Faculty art show reflects todayÕs world