By Shanee Frazier, Staff Writer
SOUTH ORANGE — Columbia High School students were given the opportunity to view the artwork of two well-known local artists right in their own halls with the opening of “Alaine Becker and Sarah Petruziello in Graphite” at the school’s Domareki Gallery on Oct. 2.
The exhibit, curated by recently retired SOMA school district art teacher Larry McKim, features the work of South Orange residents Becker and Petruziello.
In an interview with the News-Record, McKim said he knew that the gallery is generally an available space during September and October, so he decided to take advantage of the opportunity.
“Alaine and Sarah are artists that have a lot in common, but they are very different, so they make a great pair,” McKim said. “Both of them have very detailed work, so you have to study it very closely.”
For McKim, the decision to show the two artists’ works together was a no-brainer.
“I wanted to exhibit Alaine Becker and Sarah Petruziello together because their work has very compelling similarities and stark contrasts,” McKim said.“Both represent themselves in their own ways. Sarah creates self-portraits that are surrealistic, with incongruous elements surrounding her that symbolize personal stories and dreams. Alaine creates abstractions of internal anatomy that are visually the opposite of what Sarah does; they are minimal and have lots of empty white space. Both are using graphite and work on paper. Also, both are local artists.”
McKim also spoke about the importance for him to stay connected to the school in his retirement.
“I wanted to bring their work to CHS because I think it is provocative enough that students will respond in thoughtful ways, whether they are in an art class or some other discipline,” McKim said. “Art students will be inspired and respond in their own work.”
The exhibit also makes the work of these local artists accessible to CHS students and staff.
“It was a great opportunity to expose teachers and students to these artists,” McKim said. “Even though they have the Baird Center and 1978, this is right here in the high school and it’s a valuable teaching tool.”
Artist Petruziello was enthusiastic about the opportunity for having a new demographic see her work.
Petruziello, who has lived in South Orange for more than 13 years, said she usually works with realism and that all of her drawings are large-scale and close to life-size or a little larger.
In a recent interview with the News-Record, she said the ideas for her work come very organically. “My inspiration is life,” Petruziello said. “Sometimes a turn of phrase, a conversation, words in a book, hand gestures, etc.”
Petruziello also said that she tries to avoid preconceived ideas, preferring to allow the pieces to evolve naturally.
“I’ve had people ask me what one of my pieces is supposed to symbolize,” Petruziello said. “But sometimes people get their own ideas out of the artwork, which I prefer rather than forcing ideas on them.”
Becker, who has resided locally for more than 20 years, is also hopeful about exposing a new audience of viewers to her artwork within the high school.
In a recent interview with the News-Record, Becker said she usually works with human anatomy and figures but, for the art in the gallery, she took a slightly different route.
“I decided to use internal anatomy for this series,” she said. ”I normally work in color, but decided to work only in graphite to give myself a challenge, and it’s all still very abstract.”
Most of the pieces displayed at CHS are studies for larger pieces, and there is one piece from the series displayed at 1978 Maplewood Arts Center and another at the Pierro Gallery at the Baird Center in South Orange.
Becker also said that she and Petruziello had an opportunity to talk to some of the AP Studio Art students at CHS the day before the exhibit opened.
“We talked about the artwork; the students asked technical questions and also where do we, as artists, draw ideas from,” Becker said. “It was a really positive experience for everybody.”
The exhibit will be on display in the high school through Oct. 24. For more information about the two artists and their work, visit www.sarahpetruziello.com and www.alainebecker.com.