This article is from the EMU News Archive. Current EMU new is available at www.emu.edu/news

Art Exhibit Rethinks Meaning of 'Trash'

Some people take a cursory look at a painting, sculpture or other art work and quickly label it "trash."

A new art exhibit at Eastern Mennonite University is literally that.

But look again. The artist, Cyndi D. Gusler, calls her mixed media work "transformed trash." All pieces in her display that opens Monday, Mar. 14, were fashioned entirely from manufactured products that have been cast off. The result is a body of highly textural sculptural objects that look, from a distance, like mineral formations, but upon closer inspection reveal hidden identities.

Each piece in the series includes crushed, broken, cut, torn, dissected or otherwise altered commonplace materials reassembled in unexpected yet deeply familiar ways.

Gusler is an assistant professor of art at EMU, where she teaches courses in painting, drawing, three-dimensional design and printmaking.

She is a 1993 graduate of EMU and earned a master of fine arts degree from James Madison University.

"I collect observations made in the natural world, information about minerals and gemstones and interesting trash," Gusler said. "The next, more challenging step, is the assimilation of these three components into a coherent and aesthetically compelling whole. For guidance, I return to uncut, unpolished gemstones as well as my gleaned and intuitive understanding of art."

A reception for the artist will be held 7-8:30 p.m. Mar. 14 in the gallery located on third floor of EMU's Hartzler Library.

The exhibit will open for viewing daily during regular library hours through Apr. 1. Admission to the gallery is free.

— article by: Jim Bishop; posted February 25, 2005