Art Professor Cyndi Gusler’s gallery show, “Salt & Fury,” opened last Tuesday, Oct. 28. Students and faculty from various departments and majors attended to view the art and hear Gusler’s presentation. About 15 students stayed through the presentation, and a few more stopped in at the beginning or for a short time during Gusler’s statement.
The show consisted mostly of oil paintings, with a few watercolor pieces. Additionally, sculptures that Gusler called “Modern-Day Minerals” sat in the center of the room.
The opening began at 4 p.m. with students signing in to receive an Engage point and grabbing refreshments. Guests then made their way into the gallery to check out the artworks.
Provost Tynisha Willingham introduced Gusler around 4:15. Gusler then began her Sabbatical Spotlight presentation. Gusler was expressive with her language and body, often gesturing as she described a landscape or painting process. She also interacted with audience members at various times, referencing a few different professors’ fields and calling them out by name.
Gusler’s presentation was lighthearted and funny, as well as powerful and emotional. Many of her paintings were inspired by anger and grief over climate change. She described how she believes that “climate protection is a gift we can offer to the world.” She explained how her gifts were not biological or political, but visual. “I consider myself an eco artist,” Gusler said.
“I want my paintings to affect others the way they affect me,” Gusler said as she finished her formal presentation. She then moved into a time of focusing on specific pieces and describing their process and inspiration.
For one piece in particular, the titular painting “Salt and Fury,” Gusler wheeled over a cart of art supplies to give a live demonstration of how she created it. She took a dry paintbrush and palette and brushed the canvas with harsh, angry strokes. The painting was created around the time that EMU announced that some faculty would be losing their jobs. Emotions ran high in the room as Gusler recalled not wanting to create something pretty, but something that expressed how she was feeling. She demonstrated how she used her fingers and fingernails on the painting as well.
“I love how she called out EMU,” said sophomore Amelia Stuckey. A biology and environmental science double major, Stuckey also enjoyed the scientific aspects of the presentation. “It combines my two favorite things, which are science and art.”
Other students who attended shared Stuckey’s sentiments. Theo Andreas, a nursing major, said he was also interested in art. “I like what Cyndi said about the expressive paintings,” Andreas said. “I would like to do more expressive stuff than realism.”
After Gusler’s presentation ended, students and staff stuck around for a while, taking closer looks at the paintings and chatting with Gusler and each other.
“Salt and Fury” will be displayed in the Margaret Martin Gehman Gallery through Nov.
