Photographer has painters eye for detail
Celia Fox
Capital Times Staff
During March and the beginning of
April, the work of Mary Kay Neff and
Nancy Lenker Topolski in the Gallery
Lounge testifies to the importance of
photography in contemporary art. Neff is a
photographer who draws inspiration from
a painterly muse; Topolski, a painter
whose perceptions are saturated by
American culture's photographic images.
At first glance, the viewer could
mistake Mary Kay Neffs alternative
process photographs for watercolors and
other forms of painting. The colors are
serene; the figures are ghostly.
The impressionistic print "My
Mother’s Garden" takes us back a century
or more, to a time when Modem Art and
photography were both young. The gum
dichromate process the artist uses was
invented in the mid-1800s, and
incorporates watercolor pigment in the
coating of the print page. The green,
lavender and blue dots that harmonize into
flowers are a muted echo of Seurat's
pointillism.
"Untitled II" could have been titled
"Silence." The empty chair stationed at the
blank window yearns for the one who sat
there just a moment ago. The chaste lines
of chair, floor, wall and window touch
each other with discipline, creating a
hushed and secret place.
The striking "Moon Flower" utilizes
another form of early photographic
experimentation: cyanotype. The chemical
mix involved is sensitive to ultraviolet
light and always dries to the characteristic
blue shade (which is a little like saying
that some oil, ground rock, and plaster
turned into a ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel).
The white shivers into the blue the
way clouds blur the sky and seafoam
blends into the waves. The bell of the
flower pierces your heart and the moon
knows everything you've done.
Faint scraps of diary entries or excerpts
from a letter flow through the blue and
white universe. "I've been going to the
back porch to see the moon come over the
mountain. Last night...out
there...tonight...," but the moon always
has been comfortable with mystery.
The other half of the exhibit picks up
where "Moon Flower" leaves off,
combining visual images with words in a
less romantic fashion.
Nancy Lenker Topolski acknowledges
the influence of Jenny Holtzer and others
of the "text as image" school on her work.
The meaning of the phrase for each piece
is carefully selected, but when she starts
painting, the linear components of the
"Humor in the
Workplace"
by Ruth Brillinger
Director, Health Gain
Capital Health System
Wednesday, April 1, 2 p.m.
in the Gallery Lounge
Free and open to the public
letters become more powerful for her.
"The words are like a still life for me,"
the artist commented, during a March 25
lecture in the Gallery Lounge. "I use them
the way other artists use fruit or flowers."
Art Review
Although her main focus is formal
problems of painting, she is aware of the
feminist themes that run through her work
as well. She is not a political activist,
preferring to hint at serious issues with
tongue firmly in cheek.
The large canvas "Can't Stand the
Heat" features a young woman hovering in
a frying pan above the words: "I think we
have an emergency here," while the pan lid
descends ominously.
The figures resemble prints in black
and shades of gray. With a relatively
STUDENTS ARE TALKING...
Good Pay?
Flexible Hours?
Great Benefits?
YOU ASK YOURSELF, WHERE CAN THIS BE FOUND?
Let's see what these students are saying...
John Collins
Part Time Supervisor
Twilight Shift
"I have been with United Parcel Service for 3 112 years. 1 started out as
an unloader, then l sorted, after which l went into supervision. What
attracted me to UPS was the flexible hours, wages and benefits. It fits in
well with my class schedule-I go to school in the morning and work in
the early evening.”
Alan Rinehart
Loader
Night Shift
"I've worked at United Parcel Service for 22 days now. My class schedule
is from 9-3 daily, and the night hours work well for me. I was attracted to
UPS because of their reputation, quality and professionalism. I would
recommend my friends to work at United Parcel Service."
Brian Donovan
Night Shift
"I've worked at United Parcel Service for 20 days. I attend Penn State, and
the hours are perfect for me. / was attracted to UPS because of the wages
and l would definitely recommend UPS to my friends."
So... Great pay, flexible hours, and good benefits can all be found at United Parcel Service? Yes, it can.
UPS ha- ''any things to offer the working college student. Our competitive wages and comprehensive benefits
package--which includes a Major Medical Plan, Dental Coverage, Partial Coverage for Eye Exam and Glasses, and
the ConSern Loan Program are just a few of the benefits you could receive through employment at United Parcel
Service.
Flexible hours allow those students to structure their class schedules around a shift which best fits their needs:
Day Shift—l 2 noon until 4 p.m.; Twilight Shift—s p.m. until 9 p.m.; Night Shift—lo:3o p.m. until 2:30 a.m.; and Preload
Shift—4 a.m. until 8 a.m. (These shift times could vary up to an hour, depending on the volume.)
Our competitive wages have helped students to finance their education while earning valuable work experience.
UPS policy of "promotion from within" gives some students real life management experiences while continuing their
education, and has provided many former students with challenging, rewarding careers upon completion of their
academic goals.
Are these students just talking? No, I think not. These students are working, working for the best company in the
shipping business. UPS not only delivers packages, but delivers an education by working for students who work for
us. These students are receiveing excellent wages, good benefits and flexible hours.
Do you want to continue to listen, or do you want to become one of those students talking? If you are interested,
see a United Parcel Service representative in the Lion's Den Lobby on Monday, April 6, or stop in the Placement
Office to sign up for an on-campus interview.
f = W = \ WORKING FOR STUDENTS WHO WORK FOR US.
dark/green/gray background, contrast is
minimal and the work appears faded and
worn, despite its age (1990).
A wry surrealism unites a collection of
small canvases that make up the piece
entitled "A Fear of Strength."
Commercially slick portraits of
"another woman without a head," a
Doberman, a cat and a fisherman vie with
straving children, a doll and a bewitching
Elizabeth Montgomery for wall space.
A trio of women dance in tight, short
dresses while levitating kitchen equipment
menaces a housewife in the next panel.
The panels have a dark mustard
background in common. Some layers of
paint are either mixed with shellic or
lightly coated to give a subtly sparkle.
However, the sheen, in conjunction
with the low contrast colors, makes some
panels almost impossible to view for the
average size person.
From the other side of the gallery,
PS DELIVERS EDUCAT
CAPITAL TIMES A 1
March 30, 1992 I? H//V 1 U XVH/13/ H
Alan Rinehart and John Collins
"Identify Your Target" resembles an aqua
and warholpink quilt.
At a closer range, the squares depict a
variety of feet. One is replaced by a lethal
looking lipstick, vivid enough to be
mistaken for a glucd-on prop from the
other side of the room.
Topolski admitted to horror at the
barrage of manipulated images from TV
and magazines that influenced her growing
up. Awareness of their weight enables her
to moderate their power on her adult mind,
but she still battles against the authority
they exercise on the American mind.
Worst of all, "Not only do we covet
the images that substitute for reality, we
come to prefer them," she said. She said it
best in one of her older paintings that is
not in this show: "Experience: there is no
substitute."
You can experience the work of Mary
Kay Neff and Nancy Lenker Topolski in
the Gallery Lounge through April 10.
UPS is an equal-opportunity employer
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