By JOSH TORRES | Staff Reporter
Walking into the white hallway at the far end of the Dengerink Administration building draws the eye to some particularly striking pieces of art. This semester, the walls showcase the work of Petra Sairanen, fine arts professor at Portland Community College. Sairanen’s “Every Little Thing” uses unexpected materials such as gunpowder and glass, and is filled with colorful vertical lines and bright colors against a static white and black, like clouds raining colored pencils.
The effect of being in the hallway is to feel as if you are at a gallery – and hardly steps from a cafeteria and administration offices. The art, meanwhile, in being bold and abstract, is thought-provoking.
The artist herself annotates with a wall plaque explaining her mission and practice:
I have been incorporating gunpowder and crushed glass into many of the new paintings. I find the material of gunpowder visually beautiful, yet we are all aware of its potential to destroy—or to protect. It is a material that speaks to both fear and safety. Broken glass is a material most people try to avoid. Yet glass is used on roads and airport runways to signal directions, boundaries and warn of danger. …
Living through the past few years of political, environmental and pandemic turmoil created a desire to address ideas of how to persevere in an unwelcoming and challenging world. Allowing new materials to enter my painting practice has opened a door toward a more personal form of connection.
Sairanen’s work will be on display until Dec. 13. They originally made the pieces for a collaborative exhibit called Two Poems with Portland artist Ben Buswell.
Harrison Higgs, head of the WSU Vancouver art department, explains that art installations and displays in the Dengerink Administration building began back in 1997, with student work from fine arts classes. This coming April will mark the 28th annual Fine Arts Student Exhibition at WSU Vancouver.
An art gallery committee, including Higgs, art professor Avantika Bawa, art technician Noah Matteucci, and Sherri Bennett, chief of staff to the chancellor meets several times annually to review applications and curate upcoming shows, sometimes inviting artists directly to campus.
Anyone can apply for their art to be displayed so long as they meet the committee’s guidelines found on their webpage: https://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/process-information-showing-wsu-vancouver-galleries.
