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BY SYDNEY BEVERIDGE

In print | Published April 17, 2003

Step into the back room of the List Gallery for an exhibit of color photographs by Meggie Miao ’03. The 16 pictures depict traditional life in southwestern China and interpretation of emotions at Swarthmore. The first two series of photographs show scenes of women in traditional ethnic costumes in villages outside of Kun Ming, China. From wedding gown preparations to women in domestic spheres, Miao said of her photographs, “I am able to capture their expression and gesture through the lens while manifesting my own sentiments.”

In her third series, Miao displays her own story of a young female subject by staging everything in a controlled environment. The viewing experience “is and is not about who she is and what identity she holds but more about what emotion she has and is evoking.” Miao has been experimenting with both kinds of storytelling in her work. “I have a tendency to have series with narrative and sequential quality,” she said, “for I feel that sometimes one photo could not tell enough of what I try to convey.” One of the biggest struggles and subsequent triumphs in her thesis work has been creating a narrative aspect in her art through the use of multiple photographs. Come see the whole story yourself in the List Gallery.

Tim Applebee ’03

In a series of 10 abstract oil paintings, Tim Applebee ’03 explores the story of the line. Occasional sculptor, public artist and film director, Applebee has been focusing on painting this year. He credited his fiancée for inspiring his transition to the medium and his dedication to the project.

“Chocolate and Sky,” “Celia’s Favorite,” “Harsh Winter” and his other paintings each narrate a line. “The line is the path we walk on. Sometimes it’s straightforward, and sometimes it’s fractured,” and sometimes both, or perhaps neither, Applebee said.

An awareness of aesthetics and a love of metaphor unite Applebee’s work into a coherent whole. He plays with the positive and negative aspects of lines by manipulating and highlighting the white of a canvas, reducing once-prominent lines to background “grooves.” His arrangement of color juxtaposes areas of opacity with transparency. The “role of red” is also prominent throughout the show, representing “a visual anchor,” “a heartbeat,” or even a soda machine in the wasteland.

If you want to learn what oil painting really has to do with soda machines and shoving potatoes through a turbine engine, you will have to come to the gallery yourself.

Becca Van Fleet ’03

In the latest gallery exhibition, Becca Van Fleet ’03 presents bowls, plates, tumblers, cups and bottles that challenge the distinction between craft and art.

Van Fleet said ceramics offered her creativity and freedom. “I find endless possibility in wheel-thrown forms,” she said, adding that she enjoyed “the way a clay object can represent a creative moment in time.”

After countless hours of preparation, Van Fleet has culminated her experience in Swarthmore’s ceramics program with a collection of functional pottery. She said of the process of her thesis and artwork, “I am constantly making decisions that address many levels of meaning, from aesthetic design choices to more intellectual and philosophical considerations as to the place of an artist and potter in our society.” She sees her ceramics as organic and fluid objects, hoping they serve as reminders of a simpler lifestyle.

Van Fleet plans to pursue ceramics as a career, spending the coming year in New Hampshire as an apprentice and in workshops around the country. She hopes to eventually go to graduate school for a degree in fine arts.

Exhibit hours:

Today, 12 – 4

Friday 1 – 6

Saturday and Sunday 1 – 4

The List Gallery is located on the main floor of LPAC.

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