Valdosta National 2016 Juror Statement
“This is VSU’s 28th annual juried art show open to artists nationwide. Julie Bowland, VSU Fine Arts Gallery director, said 115 artists stretching from across the U.S submitted 338 works this year. From the hundreds of entries, 47 artworks representing 42 artists from 28 states were selected for the show…”
It was an honor to evaluate the works submitted this year. The process of assessment has been contemporized; the juror looks at the submitted digital images prior to the exhibition event. However, what one sees on the monitor is often very different from when viewed in person. For example, if the image doesn’t include the frame, there is no way to anticipate its actual presentation; or I might think something is monumental which is in fact minuscule depending on how it was photographed. I might see originality in something that reveals itself to be trite, or vice versa. Anticipating that, after arriving at the venue, I was still quite shocked by the degree to which the presented works were different from their digital images, mostly to their advantage. I had to begin my evaluation process there and then. Overall, I was quite impressed with the selection of submitted works at VSU’s Fine Arts Gallery, their quality, and their range of expression.
As the judge, I was looking for the artwork most worthy of recognition, done by the person who had the momentum to carry his or her vision, perhaps through the process shown in a body of excellent work. The fact that I had chosen multiple works by the same person reinforced my final decision. I didn’t chose based on artist’s diversity of location or their materials. I was looking for the best. I was surprised to find that works so varied, and from as many as 28 states. After careful evaluation, the following are my choices for VSU’s 28th annual juried art show:
1st prize is awarded to Aneka Ingold for Aberration. This multimedia work on vinyl was chosen for its enormity of content as well as its scale. Being very familiar with work in this genre, I have a tendency to be more particular and biased. I found the mix of flat and detail masterfully innovative and excellently composed. The sophistication of surface reinforced the mixture of maiden crone imagery, and the opposition of nature verses nurture innovative. This is a masterpiece of narrative art.
2nd prize is awarded to James Robert’s Pace for Debris Ball. This work is fantastic in the way that it underplays its care. The surface looks like anything swept off a construction floor. On closer examination, these surfaces are awry with great specificity. I suspect that this is a kind of trompe l’oeil of lack of intent, which carefully describes the exact opposite if one looks closer. The pieces are nearly surgically precise. Each part is separately embossed, printed, and joined. In particular, there are subtle sections of transparent rubber that were cast to read, “belief is true.” By the end of examining this work in person, I wanted to hold it in my arms like a child despite it’s jagged nails.
3rd prize is awarded to Marcus Howell’s Those with Grotesque and Horrific Intent, whose work I was not immediately attracted to. I really didn’t want to engage with a piece that demanded so much attention, but once I stepped inside, I found myself in an panoply of vignettes revealing complex imagery sourced from commix and fantasy. This narrative comprised of high rises and boardrooms exuded themes of seduction and power. Delving in deeper, I found that there was a militia of rabbit headed goons pushing hostages off a buildings to their death and that I had been looking at this work for many minutes and had not even seen a fraction of the dense composition.
4th prize goes to Corin Herzog’s necklace titled Torque. Torque is a measure of how much a force acting on an object causes that object to rotate. The choices of materials and the repetition of forms revealed the physical technique balanced its decorative organic form.
I was allowed to give as many honorable mentions as I wanted and I did so. I found that there was so much good work; I wanted to let the artists know.
-Carrie Ann Baade
“This is VSU’s 28th annual juried art show open to artists nationwide. Julie Bowland, VSU Fine Arts Gallery director, said 115 artists stretching from across the U.S submitted 338 works this year. From the hundreds of entries, 47 artworks representing 42 artists from 28 states were selected for the show…”
It was an honor to evaluate the works submitted this year. The process of assessment has been contemporized; the juror looks at the submitted digital images prior to the exhibition event. However, what one sees on the monitor is often very different from when viewed in person. For example, if the image doesn’t include the frame, there is no way to anticipate its actual presentation; or I might think something is monumental which is in fact minuscule depending on how it was photographed. I might see originality in something that reveals itself to be trite, or vice versa. Anticipating that, after arriving at the venue, I was still quite shocked by the degree to which the presented works were different from their digital images, mostly to their advantage. I had to begin my evaluation process there and then. Overall, I was quite impressed with the selection of submitted works at VSU’s Fine Arts Gallery, their quality, and their range of expression.
As the judge, I was looking for the artwork most worthy of recognition, done by the person who had the momentum to carry his or her vision, perhaps through the process shown in a body of excellent work. The fact that I had chosen multiple works by the same person reinforced my final decision. I didn’t chose based on artist’s diversity of location or their materials. I was looking for the best. I was surprised to find that works so varied, and from as many as 28 states. After careful evaluation, the following are my choices for VSU’s 28th annual juried art show:
1st prize is awarded to Aneka Ingold for Aberration. This multimedia work on vinyl was chosen for its enormity of content as well as its scale. Being very familiar with work in this genre, I have a tendency to be more particular and biased. I found the mix of flat and detail masterfully innovative and excellently composed. The sophistication of surface reinforced the mixture of maiden crone imagery, and the opposition of nature verses nurture innovative. This is a masterpiece of narrative art.
2nd prize is awarded to James Robert’s Pace for Debris Ball. This work is fantastic in the way that it underplays its care. The surface looks like anything swept off a construction floor. On closer examination, these surfaces are awry with great specificity. I suspect that this is a kind of trompe l’oeil of lack of intent, which carefully describes the exact opposite if one looks closer. The pieces are nearly surgically precise. Each part is separately embossed, printed, and joined. In particular, there are subtle sections of transparent rubber that were cast to read, “belief is true.” By the end of examining this work in person, I wanted to hold it in my arms like a child despite it’s jagged nails.
3rd prize is awarded to Marcus Howell’s Those with Grotesque and Horrific Intent, whose work I was not immediately attracted to. I really didn’t want to engage with a piece that demanded so much attention, but once I stepped inside, I found myself in an panoply of vignettes revealing complex imagery sourced from commix and fantasy. This narrative comprised of high rises and boardrooms exuded themes of seduction and power. Delving in deeper, I found that there was a militia of rabbit headed goons pushing hostages off a buildings to their death and that I had been looking at this work for many minutes and had not even seen a fraction of the dense composition.
4th prize goes to Corin Herzog’s necklace titled Torque. Torque is a measure of how much a force acting on an object causes that object to rotate. The choices of materials and the repetition of forms revealed the physical technique balanced its decorative organic form.
I was allowed to give as many honorable mentions as I wanted and I did so. I found that there was so much good work; I wanted to let the artists know.
-Carrie Ann Baade