2008 Woodie Awards
Doug Smithenry Shatters Perception with Spliced Representation
Reed Stratton
Issue date: 12/10/03 Section: Arts & Entertainment
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The still, solemn eyes in the pictures stare past where I sit and deep in to the fibers of Bradley Building's walls behind me. One picture is of a young man with glazed, auburn skin and dishwater hair; circles ripple across the canvas as if someone had dropped a rock in to it, distorting his face.
Another, a few frames down in the dim Bradley Building, lit only by the towering Christmas tree, is a man of chestnut hair; he has bushy eyebrows and a mustache. Portions of his face are shattered and dissected in to a kaleidoscope pattern.
These are the spliced representations of Doug Smithenry, featured artist in The Bradley Gallery of Fine Arts. The exhibition began on November 7, with an artist's reception from 4:30- 7:30 pm. It runs until December 11.
Spliced representation features vivid portraits of faces twisted and distorted in puzzling ways. Many of his pieces have a grim mood to them, and most of the facial expressions of the figures are sad and somber. Most of his work is done with oil on canvas and comes in all sizes.
His unique artist's touch is the distortion of each piece, intentionally misaligning frames and focuses for artistic effect.
The portraits are psychologically puzzling, severing the brain's attempt at rationalizing an image. The illusion is similar to being alone in a strange place and desperately trying to recognize a face as someone you know.
In order for sight to occur, the brain divides images in to jagged pieces and recollects them, causing a slight lapse to interpret the pieces as something familiar.
"What the eye sends to the brain are mere outlines of the visual world, sketchy impressions that make our vivid visual experience all the more amazing," The Daily University Science News webpage states (www.http://unisci.com/stories/20011/0329011.htm).
"Even though we think we see the world so fully, what we are receiving is really just hints, edges in space and time. The brain interprets this sparse information, probably merging it with images from memory, to create the world we know," said Frank S. Werblin in the Daily University Science News Webpage.
Another, a few frames down in the dim Bradley Building, lit only by the towering Christmas tree, is a man of chestnut hair; he has bushy eyebrows and a mustache. Portions of his face are shattered and dissected in to a kaleidoscope pattern.
These are the spliced representations of Doug Smithenry, featured artist in The Bradley Gallery of Fine Arts. The exhibition began on November 7, with an artist's reception from 4:30- 7:30 pm. It runs until December 11.
Spliced representation features vivid portraits of faces twisted and distorted in puzzling ways. Many of his pieces have a grim mood to them, and most of the facial expressions of the figures are sad and somber. Most of his work is done with oil on canvas and comes in all sizes.
His unique artist's touch is the distortion of each piece, intentionally misaligning frames and focuses for artistic effect.
The portraits are psychologically puzzling, severing the brain's attempt at rationalizing an image. The illusion is similar to being alone in a strange place and desperately trying to recognize a face as someone you know.
In order for sight to occur, the brain divides images in to jagged pieces and recollects them, causing a slight lapse to interpret the pieces as something familiar.
"What the eye sends to the brain are mere outlines of the visual world, sketchy impressions that make our vivid visual experience all the more amazing," The Daily University Science News webpage states (www.http://unisci.com/stories/20011/0329011.htm).
"Even though we think we see the world so fully, what we are receiving is really just hints, edges in space and time. The brain interprets this sparse information, probably merging it with images from memory, to create the world we know," said Frank S. Werblin in the Daily University Science News Webpage.