March 30, 2006
For the first time ever, St. Johns’ University is giving a
Department of Fine Arts student a solo exhibition of her work. The
artist, senior Eirene Jacobs, is displaying 24 abstract digital
photographs on the second-floor mezzanine gallery of the Manhattan
campus at 101 Murray Street. The exhibit, “Ship’s System
Series,” which runs through May 30, will be featured at a reception
on April 19, from 6-8 p.m. The show is free and open to the public
from Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Photo
Gallery
The show features framed images, approximately 24" x 32 "in
size, that are abstractions of photos she took of the mechanical
workings of a SUNY Maritime College training ship’s engine room.
This may seem like unusual subject matter for a young woman who has
studied fine arts at St. John’s Queens campus on a full
scholarship, but Eirene says she was intrigued by the engine room’s
contents while touring the ship based at the maritime college her
boyfriend attends. “It was subject matter that hadn’t been
explored,” she says.
Through cropping, overlaying and manipulation of files that may
be a gigabyte or larger on her custom-built computer, Eirene
translates this nuts-and-bolts equipment into abstract images. She
describes her process as one of visually flattening the images and
manipulating them as pure elements of design, “using them much the
same way that the abstract expressionists used line, shape, value
and form.”
Best in Student Art Show
Newsday, in a review of the University’s student art
exhibition last spring on the Queens campus, characterized her
ship’s system work displayed then as “using digital technology to
turn photographs of ordinary nautical equipment into hallucinogenic
mirages.” Eirene received the “Best in Show” award from the Department
of Fine Arts faculty at the exhibit.
She likens her objective in taking on what many people describe
as “very masculine work” to the spirit she sees in noted
photographer Minor White pieces: “to take ordinary, man-made
objects and help one see them as exceptional art,” she
explains.
And, according to Fine Arts Chairman Paul Fabozzi, her work is
exceptionally strong, definitely worthy of a solo show.
Glad She Came to St. John’s
Glad that she chose to attend St. John’s for fine arts — where she
took classes in sculpture, three-dimensional design, aqueous media
(watercolor), drawing, photography and digital photography — she
believes she benefited from a liberal arts education. “I enjoyed
taking other subjects to broaden my education, and I wouldn’t have
been able to do that at an art school,” she says. “I’ve also
appreciated the individual attention the art faculty gives
students.”
Eirene has been guided at St. John's by her advisor, Professor
Diane Himmelbaum, Assistant Department Chair, who encouraged her to
produce enough work to qualify for her solo “Ship’s Systems Show.”
She also credits Digital Photography Professor Louis DiGena, whose
course — which she took when she was closed out of traditional
photography — opened up new vistas.
Eirene, a resident of the Richmond Hill section of Queens, came
to St. John’s from Mary Louis Academy for girls located near the
University in Jamaica Estates. In this private high school, she
studied art under Ellen Fee, who works closely with St. John’s Fine
Arts department in placing talented students. And talent runs in
Eirene’s family as her father is also an artist. After graduation,
she hopes to work as an artist and would like to connect with a
gallery that will represent her work.