Half a year has passed since the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but that has not stopped a group of artists from remembering the effects it has had on the Louisiana community.
Artists from inside and outside the Loyola community came together to express their reactions to the oil spill through different mediums of art.
While the oil spill has caused grief for many people in southern Louisiana, it was important for the artist to look on the bright side. The art show was a way to bring hope as well as awareness.
“The show is an effort to showcase the visual response, to the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, in its various forms,” said Danna Center Gallery Director and visual arts senior Michelle Pontiff.
Featured artist and visual arts alumna ’09 Tuyen Nguyen grew up in southern Plaquemines Parish and found her hometown and the fishing industry to be her source of inspiration. Growing up, she worked at her parents’ oriental food and marine supply store, Le Nguyen.
“Methodical tasks from working at the store have found their way into my art making. Materials that I stocked and sold there are also sometimes present in my work,” said Nguyen
One of the pieces Nguyen exhibited in the show is a ceramic boot titled “Royal Boot” which plays tribute to the common white boot the shrimpers in the deep south use.
“I’ve also noticed on a trip to photograph my uncle, who was working to clean up the oil spill, that the boots supplied by BP were black,” said Nguyen. “It was as if everyone had traded their simple white boots for sinister black ones after the oil spill.”
Her next piece, titled “Caught in a Net,” was not a reaction to the oil spill but a warning against the continued devastation of the wetlands. In this piece Nguyen used glass bottles, twine, left over trawling net and dirt from her home in Buras.
Biology alumna ‘06 and founder of the Hermit Crab Survival Project, Leanne Sarco, also participated in the show even though she has not had any formal training in the arts other than a semester of painting she took as a freshman.
“I love art and science, and having my art and work with the environment displayed at the college I went to is such a fulfilling feeling,” said Sarco.
Sarco submitted a painting titled “Caminada Pass” that took three months to complete. The painting captures a crimson sunset and the oil stained beach she saw during the time she spent living in Grand Isle.
“The image is a memory of I had of a deep red sunset that took place before the spill that I wanted to have to keep. But somehow the painting turned into a sad seen of doom and oil crept in without realizing it,” said Sarco.
Though Nguyen and Sarco have graduated they feel it was important to come back and participate in this show to raise awareness for those affected by the oil spill.
“It’s important to bring these issues into light especially in a university setting, where the voices of young individuals can have a huge impact on creating change for the better,” said Nguyen.
Angie Hernandez can be reached at [email protected].
