Picture Connecticut: A Special Exhibit At A College Gallery

WILLIMANTIC, CT — This week's stop on the Picture Connecticut tour takes us to the Eastern Connecticut State University Art Gallery. Eastern has partnered with the National Collage Society to display its 2024 Juried Small Collage Exhibition.

Supplementing the gallery's ongoing exhibition, "Circe: A Goddess for Our Times," the NCS collage is on display until to April 12.

Collage, a term originating from the French "papier colle" - translated as "glued paper" - is a technique where various elements are composed on a surface. The NCS works to advance "the stature of collage as a major art medium," according to their website. Each of the pieces making up the collage have been sent in by members of the NCS from across the United States and around the world. They take the size and shape of a standard postcard. Artists have the freedom to layer different materials, draw, paint and reimagine the four- by six-inch postcards.

The powerful collages range from politically cutting, whimsical and nostalgic, profound reflections of self and society and everything in between.

One such piece came from Hungary. Casaba Pal's "Untitled" was mailed in as a postcard, allowing the elements and prints of the mail carrier to add to the art. Pal used images of statues and architecture, allowing humans to blend into the space of the card.

Other images included "Daybreak" by Michelle Foutch, which combines fabrics in thin layers, and a show of unity and joy by Michele R. Unger titled "Jubilee."

Gallery assistant and art lecturer Hannah Petrikovsky explained the set-up of the new exhibit. The process of organizing each piece, known as the "art of curation," requires a great deal of thought and planning.

Initially, the installation was going to be in the corner of the gallery. This would both hide the collages and force the pieces to be far above eye-level. Petrikovsky noted that this would be overwhelming to the audience and impractical for an enjoyable viewing of the collection.

With the help of university assistant Lisa Marie Soltren '20, Petrikovsky worked to carefully place each piece and create a space where the art could be appreciated - along the glass walkway of the gallery's entrance. Doing so lets the pieces be seen from the hallway, drawing students and faculty into the gallery, and allowing viewers to look closely at each piece.

Taking in the complete exhibition, Petrikovsky said, is "like finishing a painting."

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Picture Connecticut is a weekly series that features images of the state, past and present.
Here are past images:

2024

• Great Captain Island, Greenwich
• Bobblehead Madness, Storrs
• Bobby Sands/Hunger Strike Memorial, Hartford
• Mr. Jonathan Goes To Hartford, Hartford
• The Latest Discount Airline, New Haven
• State Groundhog Gets Arrested, Manchester
• Historic Wartime Sutures, Willington
• Big Business Week In CT, statewide
• The Marketplace at Guilford Food Center Guilford
• Main Street at night, Middletown
• The Hide-and-Seek Bear, Tolland
• The MLK Mural, Manchester
• The Mount Southington Summit, Southington

2023

• All Faiths Gather At Town Park, Vernon
• Riverside Igloos, Milford
• The TPC Pro Shop, Cromwell
• The Santa House, North Pole, er, Northern Connecticut
• Mile 4 Funnel, Manchester Road Race, Manchester
• UConn Lacrosse Giving Back, Connecticut River Valley
• The Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 3, Hartford
• The Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 2, Hartford
• The Capitol Grounds Tour, Part 1, Hartford
• The Doughboy, East Hartford
• The Walt Whitman Stone, West Hartford
• The indoor bush plane, Hartford County
• The Big Pink Chair, Ellington
• The Notch, Granby
• The CT 9/11 Monument, Westport
• Vintage Gas Pump, Somers
• Tobacco Harvest, East Windsor
• Late Afternoon, Lakeside, Coventry
• Fogarea, New Haven County
• Judy Black Memorial Park and Gardens, Washington Depot
• Connecticut River Police Boat, Rocky Hill
• The first dentist, Windsor
• The Frog Bridge, Willimantic
• The World War Bridge Rapids, Putnam
• The Peeking Cow, Tolland County
• The Ivy Lacrosse Tournament, New Canaan
• The Bradley International Airport runway, Windsor Locks
• The Underground Railroad, Unionville
• The cow carousel, Ellington
• Charles Island, Milford
• State Veterans Cemetery, Middletown
• Glastonbury-Rocky Hill Ferry, Glastonbury/Rocky Hill
• The Old County Jailhouse, Tolland
• Agent Orange Monument, Andover
• The Sunken Garden, Farmington
• Lafayette Tour Monument, Vernon
• The Pinchot Sycamore, Simsbury
• Bob's Discount Furniture Studios, Manchester