It's in the shape of a dandelion, but when you look closer, you realize the seeds are made out of 50-caliber bullets. The piece is called "blow and make a wish."
Machine war and weaponry are the themes of Tammy Ballard's art pieces. Ballard is a UVU senior majoring in fine arts and is also working on her teaching degree at BYU. Three of her sculptures are on display at the UVU student showcase called "Event: Identity." Her sculptures, along with about 30 of her fellow students' artwork, are being displayed through Dec. 1 at UVU's library on the fifth floor.
Ballard started this type of work when one of her teachers at UVU, Andrew Turley, told the students to make a work of art out of everyday objects. Ballard's husband works at a machining company, and when she saw a bucket of bullets at the shop that were rejected by the company, she was inspired. She described her pieces as being spiritual, political and physical.
When people look at her artwork, they do not connect her to it, she said. Ballard is a middle-aged mother with three kids and said she looks like a mild-mannered woman, but she said her art is who she actually is.
Ballard said her artwork reflects her view of the world. "We live in a beautiful world, but we also live in a dangerous time," Ballard said.
Her next project is going to be an eagle's nest with three eggs made of out grenades called faith, hope and charity.
Along with Ballard's sculptures, paintings, drawings, pottery, ceramic pieces, graphic art, photography and much more are displayed at the exhibit. Each student in the senior seminar art class at UVU decided what they wanted to display and created a portfolio and business card which are on the tables in front of the exhibit.
Every year there is a student art exhibit, but this is the first year the students were completely in charge of it. The teacher, Alex Bigney, told the class he needed a way to introduce them to the community, and he let them take it from there. They had less than two months to do it.
Bigney said the students need to learn to get ready to go out in the real world. This project gave them a taste of reality, he explained. During the process of getting the exhibit ready, the students found out they had no budget, it was cut. Bigney said they had to get their own sponsors to help put together the event, as is typical in the real world.
"This is a way to have them take their own pulse," Bigney said, "Have them ask, 'Am I ready to present myself?' Some of them are ready, and some need to work a little harder."
Crystalee Johnson, a senior majoring in painting and drawing, said the project consumed her life for a time. She was really interested in the whole process of putting a show like this together and she became really involved. She said it was a big eye-opener on what it will be like to do her own show, which each student has to do before they graduate. She said she is proud of how it turned out.
Many students in the class, like Cody Chamberlain, a senior graduating in December, have been creating art since they could hold a crayon. Chamberlain said he used to fall asleep doodling when he was little. He now has art pieces that sell for over $2,000.
Mike Haddock, whose emphasis is in painting and drawing, had never created artwork before he came to UVU. He said he was like everyone else who thinks they can't draw, but after taking a ceramics class, he decided to major in art.
It is patience that makes a person an artist, said Jeff Fowler, whose emphasis is in ceramics and sculpture.
"Paintings and drawings for me is like my heaven on earth," he said. "It's who I am."
The goal of the art department is to be more visual, and this exhibit is exactly the type of thing that helps the department do that, said Steve Bule, department chair of art and visual communication at UVU. He said the event taught students the business aspect of being an artist, which is hard to get from sitting in a classroom.
Jeff Ferrell, a BYU junior majoring in civil engineering, came to the opening night of the exhibit to support his wife, Sarah, whose emphasis is in graphic design. Ferrell said it is cool to see what other students are learning about in school because his major is so analytical. He has learned how much goes into just a simple logo.
Next year, the students in the senior seminar class will get a chance to do this same event. They will not be told what the previous class did and could hold the event in a different venue and go about it in a different way. Bigney said he believes in this project more now than he did at the start of it.
"I'm really, really proud of them," Bigney said.
Copyright Brigham Young University 17 Nov 2008
