A piece by Erin Burke. Photos by Ellen Hardy.
“Computers take away your ability to think.” You might imagine that’s a statement from a baby boomer, but it’s a statement made recently by a Salem High School student when asked about her recent work at The Art Corner.
Erin Burke’s work sparked my interest because she had disassembled computer parts and sewn them on to canvas as part of a mixed media piece. She exhibited work at The Art Corner in November in an exhibition titled: “Next Generation II” along with many other students of Salem Art teachers Janis Lavine and Lynne Harrington.
Lavine was happy to reach out to the community through The Art Corner show. She encourages her students to explore Salem’s growing art scene. For many of her students it was the first time their work was exhibited outside the halls of the high school and it gave them the opportunity to talk with visitors about their work and to get a feel for the gallery perspective.
Burke comments, “Googling– it’s Instant gratification, instead of working hard and digging for information. There’s more room to learn and ferret out valuable information when you’re doing research in other ways instead of hitting the search box in google — the dig gives you more satisfaction. I’m not too trusting of computers and the information they provide.”
Derek Jackson with some of photographs.
Derek Jackson’s work is mostly photographic. He explains “No one stops to look at things that are old and worn and through my images I hope they can see them and appreciate their beauty.”
Photo by Derek Jackson
The students’ work covered clay to painting and mixed media.
Wendy Snow-Lang of the Art Corner says “It’s important to showcase the young talent that is up-and-coming, and to encourage the kids to find the worth in their art and of Art, in general. What would the world be without Art? Boring, bland, dull.”
