Paintings show TMI in a new light
Cecilia Fox
Special to the Capital Times
Familiarity can breed art—if the
current exhibit in the Gallery Lounge is
any indication.
"Inner Visions" focuses our
attention on a commonplace institution,
family, and a foreboding fixture of the
campus environment, the Three Mile
Island nuclear plant. Then the artists
show us what we have forgotten how to
see.
Cheri Yohe, art teacher at the
Harrisburg Magnet School and graduate
student here, gives us a unique view of
the nuclear facility, which is not far
from the home in Goldsboro where she
has lived for the past two years.
"TMI is always there," she said.
"When I'm walking the dog or looking
out the window, I can always see it”
Throughout this series of paintings,
she distills technology into its simplest
visual forms. In "Spring on the
Susquehanna," Yohe places stark, hard
edged circles that represent the cooling
towers onto an otherwise ordinary
landscape.
"The Awakening" reverses this
pattern: four orange-red circles leap from
an inky background. The largest, frames
the organic curves of the artist's face that
rise dramatically from the flat painting.
Recurring technological images tie
it all together, for the works span a wide
range of technique and style, from
abstract to representational. Bright color
dominates, but brushwork varies from
loose, foggy strokes to tight, precise
smoothness.
The intellectual focus of Yohe's
work sets off the emotional pull of the
other half of the show.
Sex drives professor to
T.J. Brightman
Capital Times Staff
Students snicker, faculty aren't much
better and, as one student put it, Michael
Becker gets tagged as the "sex man" on
campus.
"Sex, sex, sex, that’s all he ever
thinks about," said James F. Rooney, a
colleague of the 37-year-old assistant
professor of psychology who happens to
do research on peoples sexual fantasies.
Becker, an assistant professor of
social psychology, admits one could
certainly study less interesting topics,
but believes sex research is no different
than any other.
"It is an important aspect of human
behavior that we know very little
about," said the Boston native in his
pronounced New England twang. "The
ribbing simply comes with the
territory."
Becker, who has been conducting
research on sexual fantasies since 1989,
first became interested in the subject as a
graduate student at the State University
of New York at Albany where he studied
the sexual behavior of people of different
personality types.
Becker said his sexual fantasy work
PSH NEWS
Photo by Karen Putt
Artists Cheri Yohe and Mona Saunders currently have their work on display in
the Gallery Lounge.
Approaching Mona Saunders multi- family album enlarged and enriched with
media display is like stepping into a items of memorabilia is not accidental,
huge scrapbook. The impression of a First of all, Saunders painted these
takes a different tack from previous
work.
Researchers previously tried to
classify a person's sexual fantasy by
comparing it to similar fantasies.
"Classifying is far too simplistic for
such a complex subject," Becker said.
His research uses questionnaires to
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Dr. Edward S. Beck, CCMHC, NCC, Director
Licensed Psychologists, Social Workers & Counselors
determine in more detail the content of
sexual fantasies.
Becker's subjects—students, some
from Penn State Harrisburg-write down
a sexual fantasy they had experienced in
the past three months. Becker then posed
questions about the content of their
fantasy. For example:
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April 26, 1991, CAPITAL TIMES
moody portraits from actual photos of
her relatives.
"I photocopied snapshots," she said.
"The paintings are three times removed
from the real person. The black-and
white copy gave me enough distance to
work.”
Saunders' project started as a formal
exercise, but the emotional content
quickly took over, shaping the nature of
the work. The series hops from
tombstones to babies, weddings to
soldiers, just as our memories do.
Actual objects pinned to the gallery
walls or set about its floors complement
the paintings, and they too are as varied
as lives. Buckskin and pewter set off
sequins and plastic. The motorcycle
would have been a more effective focal
point if it hadn't been hidden behind the
Gallery's piano.
All the portraits are done in oil on
an acrylic ground. The two-toned color
scheme of the works makes them into
bright negatives, somehow reminiscent
of silkscreening. The tight brushwork
also enhances the photographic negative
effect.
People are paired with animals in
many of the paintings because pets are a
natural part of a family. "The Huntress"
is an accurate depiction of a dog's soul.
"Mom and the Prize Goat" shows a
small girl astride an unusual mount.
Walking through this giant
scrapbook that uses walls instead of
pages hints at the art of making a
family. These colored shadows filtered
through the memory of an artist bring
imagination home.
The inner visions of Cheri Yohe and
Mona Saunders will inhabit the Gallery
Lounge through May 10.
research
—Where does your sexual fantasy take
place?
-How old are you in your fantasy?
—How aggressive are you in your
fantasy?
Males and females were then asked
See Becker, page 8
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