Displaced Memories hit the mark

by Christine Mersch
For The Post

The three artists featured in the art show "Displaced Memories" are themselves displaced from their original homes.

Rihab Bagnole is a doctoral student in the School of Comparative Arts and is originally from Damascus, Syria. Isabel Graziani, originally from Peru, is pursuing her Ph.D. in Comparative Arts along with Heather Stark, who is from Huntington, W. Va.

Bagnole's artwork is what she sees through her camera, and her black and white photographs show emotion and personality.

One of her pieces, "Revelation," features a model holding a mask painted white with dark lipstick and decorations around the eyes. The model's face is painted similar to the mask.

That model is actually Bagnole's friend. Bagnole's photographs always feature friends and relatives who like to pose for her.

"My friends give me input on my work while I'm photographing them," Bagnole said. "The lady who posed for that picture came up with the idea of painting her face white."

Many of Bagnole's ideas come from books and other photographs she sees. Most pieces of art take a long time to conceive and even longer to create.

"I look at books, think of what I want to do," Bagnole said. "Then I work from there."

Graziani is creating her artwork with steel, wood and enamel. Her wood and steel sculptures are interspersed with natural colors that give the artwork a realistic edge.

"These sculptures represent movement and the fluidity of life," Graziani said. "I work with natural materials that oppose each other, thereby representing the Yin and Yang of life."

Graziani writes her ideas down, then creates detailed sketches of what she wants her sculptures to look like. Next, she carves the wood and bends the steel to create beautifully natural works of art.

"I like to let the material speak for itself," Graziani said. "Art is a very important part of my life, and I like to show things as they are."

Stark's artwork also shows things as they are in real life. She knows her paintings personally since they are scenes from the West Virginia neighborhood where her grandma lived.

Stark's artwork highlights suburban houses by using geometric shapes and bright, blended colors. Her paintings seem very inviting, but they are also realistic.

"The natural architectural elements of the houses give the paintings a geometric shape," Stark said. "Also included in my paintings is the juxtaposition of industry in the background of residential neighborhoods."

One of Stark's paintings is called "View from an alley," and it is painted on a canvas taller than it is wide. It is the view of a neighborhood from the perspective of someone in a street alley.

The colors in this piece invite the viewer in to see what is beyond the painting's limited view. The work also gives the impression that home is just around the next alley.

"Displaced Memories" combines various media and has something for everyone.

"Displaced Memories" runs Jan. 11 through Feb. 2. The show is in the Lindley Cultural Center Art Gallery, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.