By Jonah Grinkewitz
Just as the married various artistic styles together under one roof, the Barry Art Museum’s latest exhibition, will showcase the diverse contributions of ϲ’s Department of Art with a full-size dollhouse installation.
Sixteen artists created different rooms for the dollhouse – from bedrooms to formal dining rooms to nurseries – applying techniques in glass, textiles and painting.
This collaborative artwork also responds to museum co-founder Carolyn Barry’s dollhouse – an exquisite recreation of the interior of their home featuring miniature versions of the Barry’s and their artworks – which will be featured alongside the new dollhouse in the exhibition.
“Dollhaus” opens during ϲ’s activity hour Aug. 27 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. where participating artists will share details about their creative process. The exhibition will be on view through Jan. 5, 2025.
“A major goal of this exhibition is to celebrate the creativity of ϲ’s faculty,” said Sara Woodbury, curator of art. “It’s been deeply satisfying to get acquainted with each participant’s studio practice and to see all their diverse interests and working methods come together in one project.”
Peter Eudenbach, a professor of art, created the sunroom using two forms of photography – an old camera which extends into the room and a cyanotype print made using chemically treated paper exposed to the sun. If you look into the camera’s lens, you can see an image of another artwork he created that is part of the Barry Art Museum’s permanent collection.
“My work has always been concerned with the relationships between sculpture and photography,” Eudenbach said.
Julia Rogers, who teaches glass at ϲ and serves as the Higher Education and Outreach Coordinator at the Chrysler Museum Glass Studio, chose to create a “regenerative nursery” using flame-worked glass, blown glass and mixed media.
In her futuristic work, there is a symbiotic relationship between plants and humans with incubators and egg pods.
“Incorporating social concepts is important in my personal work and I push students to think creatively about ideas and what message they want to convey to their audience,” Rogers said.
John Roth, an associate professor of sculpture and chair of the Art Department, chose to create the utility room which features a hulking machine spewing black smoke.
“This choice allows me to reference my research interests in resource consumption and climate change,” Roth said. “The concept hopefully will trigger thought about modern convenience and comfort and its actual cost.”
Vittorio Colaizzi, an associate professor of art history, chose to create a bedroom that explores concepts of privacy and interiority.
“Instead of filling the space with objects, I obstructed the view of an empty room with an inset wall painted flat white,” Colaizzi said. “The back wall, painted glossy white, reflects a rosy aura of brightly colored walls hidden from view.”
Mimi King, an adjunct instructor who teaches printmaking, 2D design and color theory, created the library which visually represents how books come to life in our heads.
“As a printmaker, my work exists primarily in the 2D, and translating those skills into the third dimension was a very fun challenge for me,” King said.
Jamie Robertson, assistant professor of art and director of the photography program, drew on childhood memories of her grandmother defrosting her avocado green refrigerator when creating the dollhouse’s kitchen, titled “Defrost.”
“I am a lens-based artist, so constructing something three-dimensional was challenging but fun,” Robertson said.
In addition to the dollhouses, the exhibition will include several 19th-century artworks. One is a novelty porcelain doll created by French artist Jacob Petit (1796-1868) whose skirt opens to reveal a kitchen.
Professor Eudenbach said the ideas of revelation included in the exhibition speak to the larger purpose of a museum.
“Any museum is already a dollhouse of sorts since it is a series of rooms for display,” he said. “They are real spaces but always set apart from the world outside. With this project, each artist has created a room to be part of a house which is itself an object in a room in the museum. In this sense the exhibit resembles a Russian doll.”