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As a Carolina art professor's work gains increasing national attention, one of her undergraduate students is getting a unique opportunity to explore the life of a professional artist first-hand.
When Dawn Hunter, an assistant professor of art, traveled to Brown University to open a major new exhibit of paintings in her Spectacle Spectacular series, senior art major and Magellan Scholar Melanie Clemenz not only assisted with the transportation and installation of Hunter's work but also presented digital images of her own artwork in a series of workshops at Brown.
Hunter's work, which calls attention in playful yet purposeful ways to the hidden messages embedded in pop culture images of women, was chosen this year for exhibition at a number of high-profile venues across the country, including Brown's Sarah Doyle Gallery, where her exhibit was timed to coincide with Women's History Month. The exhibition created an opportunity for Clemenz to bring her own work, which focuses on the evolution of the image of the princess in popular culture, to a wider audience as well.
Facilitated by the Magellan Scholarship, which is designed to promote stronger mentoring relationships between students and faculty in all disciplines at the University, Clemenz creates work to raise awareness of symbolic messages about ideal womanhood that often do not register on a conscious level.
"In their original forms," Clemenz said, "fairy tale princesses were used as a teaching tool to explain that 'goodness' consisted of wholesome, benevolent, and selfless acts. But the contemporary message these same princesses embody has changed, through the assistance of Disney animation, to reflect an ideology of good that is defined by personal attributes: modern princesses are socially pleasant, creatively talented, and physically beautiful; and their reward for these attributes is self advancement, usually through increased wealth or status."
After extensively researching cultural shifts in what is signified through the image of the princess, Clemenz embarked on the creation of six paintings, each of which contrasts an original fairy tail princess with her more contemporary iteration. "My hope," she said, "is that these paintings will not simply be aesthetic works but that they will also function as effective teaching tools."
Clemenz used her work as a teaching tool at Brown, where she and Hunter ran several workshops for Brown students. The goal of the workshops, titled "Slashing Symbols: Symbolism and Collage," was to help students become more aware of the underlying symbolic implications of their own work and of visual media in general. After workshop participants created collages, Clemenz and Hunter discussed the role symbolism plays in their own paintings. "Symbolism operates on such an unconscious level," Clemenz said. "As an artist, you really do have to train yourself if you want to become more aware of it."
While bringing her work into the classrooms of another university was a unique opportunity for Clemenz, what she valued even more was the opportunity to help with the installation of Hunter's exhibit.
"There's a lot involved in knowing how and where to hang a painting in just the right place and at just the right level," she said. "Getting hands-on experience was a great way to learn what to do. And that's what I've always valued about my relationship with Professor Hunter. Whenever I help her with her work, I learn so much about how to do things on my own."
Clemenz presented her work Discovery Day, the University's undergraduate research conference, and she will have a solo exhibition of her artwork in the student gallery at McMaster through May 9.
After graduation, Clemenz will embark on a decidedly different academic endeavor: she will enroll in the School of Medicine, with plans to become a dermatologist. She said her artistic training is likely to be an asset in her medical career.
"Dermatology is a very visual field of medicine and is becoming more so all the time," Clemenz said. "And my plan is to join my mother's dermatology practice here in Columbia, which will hopefully give me the opportunity to stay connected with the art community here at the University. I'd love to keep taking classes, maybe get a master's degree in art, and with luck keep exhibiting my work."
4/08
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