Art Exhibit

Two pieces that stood out to me when visiting the exhibition at the Visual Arts Gallery were Sergio G. Villamizar’s “Home Sweet Home” and Olga Mercedes Bautista’s “Bonding with Plastic”. 

Sergio Villamizar
Home Sweet Home 
2015
Photo-collage

 Villamizar is a Colombian-American photographer and printmaker who graduated from NJCU in 2007. He says in his artwork statement that places give us a sense of belonging, providing us with comfort and influencing our self-concept. These places hold memories, often times, creating attachments. “Home Sweet Home” was created using over 100 photographs to create an imagined place based on real life images from a small area of NJ (Weehawken, West New York, and North Bergen). In this curated art piece we see an array of things. Things that a lot of us from north Jersey are familiar with; construction, billboards, airplanes, trucks, gas stations, fast food, public transportation buses, school buses, freight trains, stores and the list goes on. The longer you look, the more things you’ll find. Villamizar does an amazing job of incorporating so many things into a collage that isn’t all that big. “Home Sweet Home” illustrates the industrial environment that plagues, not only the cities used in the piece but, in a larger sense, the world. We are in an age where technology consumes us, pollution has become no big deal, and unhealthy food options are forced on our children. This piece conveys a strong message, but it also feels personal. In Susan Sontag’s “On Photography” she states, “The idea of a photograph tells you how to look at things and what to focus on to understand other people’s perspectives.”  As soon as I saw this piece I instantly felt at home and I’m sure Villamizar does as well. All the things in the collage remind me of my hometown Jersey City, where I hold countless memories. It’s where I grew up and where most of my family is.

Sergio Villamizar
Home Sweet Home 
2015
Photo-collage

Sontag also states, “To collect photographs is to collect the world.” Like they say a picture is worth a thousand words’. They are able to capture monumental moments in someone’s life or history. They capture the beauty of the world. From architecture to beaches to the smiles on people’s faces. They also show how sad and unfair the world can be. From bombings to malnurished children to the recent Amazon fires. This piece brings both happiness and sadness. It has the power to connect people through memories, but it also shows the harsh reality that we live in. A lot of us grew up and still live in the type of atmosphere portrayed in “Home Sweet Home.” There is fast food always at our convenience, planes seen in the sky daily, seemingly endless construction, and freight trains, factories, buses, and cars polluting our planet. It’s a bittersweet piece to me and I hold an emotional connection to it. 

Olga Mercedes Bautista
Bonding with Plastic 
2019
Silicone, leaves, and plastic debris

The second piece that drew my attention was located at the center at the exhibit, titled “Bonding with Plastic” by Olga Mercedes Bautista. Like Villamizer, she is also an alumnus of NJCU, graduating with a Master of Studio Art degree with a specialization in Fine Arts. Because it was the largest piece of artwork in the exhibit it automatically caught my eye. After examining “Home Sweet Home” then “Bonding with Plastic”, I realized how well they connect and the attachment I have to them. The bark pieces represent the earth, our home. Villamizer’s piece, like I mentioned above, represents my home and many others. Both pieces show how much people pollute, whether it be through trash or fossil fuels. Both also show that even though we know we are harming our home, we continue to do it anyway. 

Olga Mercedes Bautista 
Bonding with Plastic 
2019
Silicone, leaves, and plastic debris

In Nato Thomas’ “Seeing Power” he states “...just as it’s hard to think of art without also thinking closely about museums, art schools, and galleries through which much of it finds its way to the world, so is it impossible to separate activism from the classrooms and streets and public plazas where it can flourish.” This piece is a form of activism and brings awareness to the state our planet is in right now. Climate change is real and we need to do as much as we can to support the cause. We only have one earth and it needs to be treated with respect. Children now have been forced to become activist because adults have not taken the matter seriously. It is their future that is at risk. Greta Thunberg in 2018, at the age of 15, began spending her school days outside the swedish parliament to call for stronger action on global warming by holding up a sign saying (in Swedish) “school strike for climate”. It’s sad that children are now putting their education on the line to fight for their future. Bautista shows us, through this piece, the severity of how much we pollute. I loved the symbolism that she displays, by polluting nature (bark) with trash. The pieces of silicone bark were assembled so that they resemble trees. Bautista then placed pieces of debris, ones she collected after hurricane Sandy, into the silicone bark before it dried. At first glance the pieces look like trees, but as you take a closer look you see the plastic and trash.

Works Cited
Susan Sontag "On Photography"
Nato Thomas "Seeing Power" 

Links

http://lowerraritanwatershed.org/2018/12/30/bonding-with-plastic-an-interview-with-sculpture-artist-olga-bautista/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greta_Thunberg