For the third week in a row, we are examining art done by students of the local colleges. Work by seniors of the four-year schools, Pacific Lutheran University and University of Puget Sound, has been reviewed. This week we visit the Gallery at Tacoma Community College, which is running its 2014 Student Art Exhibition.
The strongest work coming out of TCC is in the printmaking, drawing and the ceramic arts. The gallery’s entry area is alive with a display of brilliantly hued prints that are wonderfully executed with a pop-art vibe. Ashley Ngo’s “Tangerine,” Morrina Patrice’s “Bad Dye Job” and two of Katie Anderson’s prints, “Skadi” and “Deep Sea Encounter” are just a few examples of the crisp, colorful work coming out of TCC’s print studio which is under the able leadership of instructor Marit Berg.
Drawings in color pencil and graphite are well represented in the show. Kathy Ung’s “Eden,” E. Rudenko’s “Rabbit and Purse” and Tiara Wooten’s “Ribbon” all stand out in the color pencil category.
Students of the dynamic Alice Di Certo have done some work in ink that dazzles the eye. Nuk Zorne’s “A Galaxy,” a complex construction using the letter “A,” is simply amazing. The several works by Mackenzie Adix also stand out. “Dolls and Daring-Do” is an amusing depiction of animae-like figures made into a yen-yang style composition in crisp black and white.
The TCC ceramics department is more or less the offspring of the UPS ceramics department (which holds a venerable place in the history of ceramics in the Pacific Northwest). Students of the ceramic instructors Rick Mahaffey and Reid Ozaki (both UPS alum) are keeping up the tradition with a lavish display of vases, teapots, bottles, plates and sculptures. A tour de force of glazing virtuosity and surface effects are to be seen on David Rasmussen’s lidded vessel, Jill Rohrbaugh’s wood fired pot, Susan Thompson’s green, fish-scaly “Oval Box,” Frank Dippolito’s oil-spot bowls, and Irina Lituinyuk’s “Diamond Pot.” Nathan Himes’ “Tree Vase” features a delicate tree inscribed into its dark, blue side. Janet L. Rudolph’s plate is glazed in bands of color that bring to mind a Rothko painting. Megan Ostermick’s “Teapot with wax resist” is a dainty, butterscotch-colored affair graced with delicate little vines in tans and browns.
Students of the TCC sculpture department put out some wild stuff, no doubt reflecting the influence of the iconoclastic and ever-inventive Kyle Dillehay. Nichole Crockett’s “My Twin” is a series of white, plaster hands arranged up and down the length of an old baseball bat that is mounted on a big hunk of wood. Brian Hughes’ “Cooperation” consists of a bunch of tiny hands (forming various signs) that are in a large bowl filled with clear, polyvinyl resin.
Anthony Culanag’s photography students, Justace Buhl Brennan, Matthew Guy and Kasey Anderson, are doing some amazing things with open lens light effects. The latter’s figure outlined in colorful streaks of light is especially mysterious.
In sum, this is a great show with plenty to jiggle the olfactory nerves. TCC Student Art Exhibition runs through June 12. For further information, visit http://www.tacomacc.edu/campuslife/thegallery.