Danielle Ryan

This isn’t the typical cut-and-paste craft we all know and love from our childhoods. It’s art.

At least Professor Jill Olm thinks so. As curator of the new exhibit “(re)Visions: (di)Visions” in the Foster Gallery, she attempted to bring something new to the gallery walls.

“I wanted to show something that demonstrated a variety of mediums and processes that, when combined, create something completely new,” Olm said. “And, by nature, collage does just that.”

The name of the exhibit itself even reflects the theme. Olm explained that “(re)Vision” plays on the idea of “seeing again” and “(di)Visions” refers to the separation of the image and by putting them together, creating new meaning.

“It’s a language collage,” said Olm. “It’s a mix of words, prefixes and grammar. It’s not even grammatically correct, but it’s new.”

In order to bring her idea to fruition, Olm researched some of the big names in contemporary collage and was able to bring their work to UW-Eau Claire. The exhibit now houses 12 internationally and nationally acclaimed artists, whose pieces have been featured in some of the most prestigious galleries around the world.

Some of the artists include Sebastiaan Bremer, Christian Holstad, Sarah Bridgland, Jeffrey Porterfield and Miranda Lake, among others.

All the pieces represent a variety of techniques ranging from paper and glue, to paint, to photography and ceramics, sometimes all at once.

Foster Gallery museum docent and senior Tom Brukardt said the gallery has never had a show like this before.

“There’s some outrageous stuff here,” Brukardt said. “It seems very abstract and definitely not typical.”

As Brukardt moved from piece to piece in the gallery, he expressed his appreciation for the availability of outside art that students can experience.

“As students, we need to see what art is out there,” he said. “You can’t just reinvent the wheel every time, so students can come to a place like this and get inspiration.”

About 40 pieces span the length of the gallery and all have a different message. Olm recognizes that, while some may be crude in nature and construction, others are quite dynamic and sophisticated.

Senior Colin Hall was struck by the great variety of work, ranging from the traditional to more tangible pieces.

“You look here and this piece uses construction paper which is something children would use, but it’s here,” he said. “And then you have the sculptures which seem almost mechanical. It’s continuously challenging what people think about art.”

Senior Jenny Herman said she returned to the exhibit because she really relates to artist Miranda Lake’s work.

Lake’s pieces follow a slightly more traditional approach. She layered maps as the background and photographs of foxes serve as a common theme in her collages.

“I relate more to her type of collage pieces,” Herman said. “Some of the other pieces make me uncomfortable, and maybe that’s the artists intent, but there is a comfort level with her work.”

Even though the contributing artists live all around the world, students will have a chance to listen and meet artist Jeffrey Porterfield at 10 a.m. Friday. Porterfield will present a lecture about his work and will return in the afternoon to speak with students and critique the different pieces.

“Listening to the artist explain their work helps you to better understand why they did the things they did,” he said. “Art is all about your interpretation, but it’s good to get their insight, too.”

“(re)Visions: (di)Visions” opened Nov. 5 and will run through Nov. 25 in the Foster Gallery of the Haas Fine Arts building.