Teaching Pages

Thunder Bay II is a wall-mounted sculpture made from wood that features curved wooden slats that cross as a central point. Truman Lowe’s wooden sculptures are influenced by the traditional methods of splint-plait basket-making of the Black River Falls Ho-Chunk community.

New York State, 1970 seems to be an amusing portrayal of “reality,” since a real arm is holding a picture of a real boat against the horizon line in a position mimicking the place a ship would really float. The arm stretched over water calls forth confidence that an actual person is reaching over a railing on the edge of land or on a boat. Black, white, and gray color values and the rectangular shape of the images are elements that tap into viewers’ familiarity with photographs.

This relief print, created as a backdrop for the opening and closing credits of the 1947 Mexican film Río Escondido, portrays the singular determination of a young school teacher. She walks alone carrying a valise across a stark landscape, appearing diminutive under a sky filled with symbolic shapes that seem to be her guides. The wings of an eagle offer safeguard, and an angel-like figure aims a finger and a flagstaff in the direction she is heading.

This ghostly photograph by Lorie Novak is named Self Portrait (Ellis Island), an unusual juxtaposition of words for a title. The title suggests that the face in the center is that of the artist herself; however, it also implies that the picture is something of a self-portrait of the famous port of entry for immigrants coming to America. Ellis Island is a small island in New York Harbor, close to New York City and near the Statue of Liberty.

Lush contrasts of dark and light draw the viewer close to this timeless scene of a woman gazing into a mirror. Her eyes are obscured by a long shadow falling over her from forehead to hip. The shadow covers part of her wavy mane of hair, which she draws back with her left hand.

This little wood figure has red spots on his face, neck, hands, feet, and on his round mouse ears. Even though Measle Mouse is small―just two feet tall―he has powerful-looking shoulders and is wearing an impressive blue outfit as if suited up for a sport or a performance or an important task.

In each photograph in Tossing a Friend (Melinda) (1, 2, and 3), one sees a petite woman in a summer dress being thrown through the air by a large man. Upon closer inspection, we notice that each photograph has been taken from a different vantage point. The three photographs are hung vertically on the gallery wall, making the difference in camera angle and height of each toss more discernible.

Moonlight falls on the rooftops and lawns of a suburban neighborhood, adjacent to an urban center.  Most of the residents appear to be asleep, and noisy cars and voices seem absent, although a few lighted windows suggest that some inhabitants are still awake.

Juan Sánchez photographed this “moment in the street” when his friends’ children paused with their flowers and bicycle. The girls in front are smiling openly; the taller girl in back looks solemn and somewhat protective with her hands on the others’ shoulders.

Water courses through a clearing in a lush forest of birch and evergreen trees. A bright, clear day in summer is suggested by the strong contrast between light and dark—the woods in the background are nearly black while the chartreuse-colored trees and gray rocks are illuminated as if by the strong sun of a high mountain plateau.