Last Monday Slocumb Galleries on the ETSU campus opened the Annual Juried Art Exhibition, Positive/Negative 23. An awards reception for the exhibition honored those who contributed art to the show.
Pieces featured in this year’s show included work created in 2006 and 2007 brought from California to Rhode Island, Texas to Illinois and all across the country.
Antoine Guerrero was the director of exhibitions and juror of the event.
The gallery displayed an array of different types of art, including paintings in oil and acrylic, prints, photography, sculptures and mixed media pieces.
For the sculptures, materials used were varied to suit each artists’ tastes and help emphasize the meanings of the art.
Art student Meagan Bowman said that she has viewed several different exhibitions presented by the art department and Slocumb Galleries over the years at ETSU.
“I really have enjoyed this one particularly though, because many different mediums were featured,” said Bowman. “I think shows are more interesting when it’s not all just one artist or one kind of art.”
The ribbon for “Best in Show” was given to a piece created by Jayong Yoon of Michigan. His piece was entitled, “The Chair (With Performance).” It can be viewed behind a glass encasing at the front of the gallery. It is actually a chair that Yoon created using synthetic hair and fishing wire.
Dozens of other pieces decorated the walls and space of the gallery.
One in particular that stopped many viewers and generated much interest and talk was a sculpture done by a former ETSU student and former adjunct professor Val Lyle.
Lyle’s sculpture was in the right side of the gallery featured in a glass box. The title was “Fetus” and is from a larger series she is producing called “Sticky Subject Series.”
Her sculpture is made completely of cocklebur and burdock which she formed into the shape of a large fetus at least a couple of feet long. It is only held together with the burs; no glue or other aid was used to make the pieces stick.
Some stopped to discuss and study the piece for several moments. One such person was Kathleen Grover of the English department who first took an interest in Lyle’s sculpting nine years ago when Lyle was a graduate student at ETSU.
“Birth is painful,” Grover said in reference to the materials Lyle used to create this work of art.
Lyle explained that with this art and the series in which it is part of is symbolic to her own experience. She is currently an adjunct professor at Virginia Highlands, but said, “I’m pursuing my art professionally.”
This piece represents the birth of her journey to do just that. She also said that it took longer to gather the materials than to actually make the art and that in creating the piece she developed an infection in her finger.
“They threatened me with hand surgery,” said Lyle.
Yoon, Lyle, and many others’ art may still be viewed at Slocumb Galleries in Ball Hall on the ETSU campus.
The exhibition will run until Feb. 15. Gallery hours are from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

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