Contemporary artist opens exhibit: noumenon and other works

With his inventive, unorthodox sculptures securely set up throughout the Annetta Kraushaar Gallery, Steve Brudniak's art exhibit opened to the public on Sept. 3. Brudniak's choice of expression: an art form labeled "found art." To put it simply, Brudniak picks up pieces of metal here and gadgets there and transforms them into masterpieces. As a crowd of approximately 40 gathered around to hear the tale that belonged to each stunning success, Brudniak was welcomed by the TLU community.

"You know, I've never heard anything bad said about this man," T. Paul Hernandez, associate professor of visual arts, said. "He's the artist's artist. He's a magician."

All eyes were on Brudniak as he started by explaining the purpose and meaning of his gallery. The exhibit, entitled "Steve Brudniak: Noumenon and other works," was something foreign to many of its viewers.

"Noumenon is basically kind of that space when you have no thoughts. Sort of like the way the big bang happened," Brudniak said, "A lot of my work goes on with spiritual and psychological issues. I don't really have a religion I follow. This is all of the new work I have done in the past five or six years."

Brudniak's art took anywhere from two months to six months to complete and included everything from Catholic reliquaries with samples of his comrade's blood in them to a small tomb housing a mummified, preserved squirrel corpse.

"[The reliquaries] hold the blood of various people who have affected my life," Brudniak said. "This is the blood of another man, a kind of crazy, wild man, who taught me a lot about fear and letting go of it."

The assembly circled the room looking here and there as Brudniak spoke, examining each piece of art as if they were critics themselves. Interested and captivated, no one uttered a sound as Brudniak expressed to them what each piece of art meant to him personally.

"I find [Brudniak's exhibit] very interesting," Hannah Perry, freshman communications major, said. "It's different, but an intriguing style. It's different than any art I've ever seen before. The fact that each piece of art has a meaning to him is cool."

Although many students were gathered around the sign-in table as they entered the theatre, hoping to receive extra credit in this class or gain a forgiven absence in that class, some explained that they where there simply to take in what the gallery had to offer.

"Brudniak's art was really interesting," Robert Kucera, freshman engineering major, said. "I came because I just wanted to see how he came up with his stuff. I think just the creativity, basically, is what I found really interesting. It's just really unique."

Additionally, Perry added that she wanted to come to the presentation after her freshman experience teacher showed her a few examples of Brudniak's work in class.

"I was really intrigued," Perry said.

As Brudinak began to bring his production to a close, questions from viewers of all ages were thrown in his direction. As he answered each question, he added that, although most of his work came from his own creative genius and intuition, he had also had some help along the way.

"My father was a good teacher and I've learned a lot of stuff from a variety of people over the years," Brudniak said.

Many were yearning for an answer to where Brudniak found all of these treasures that were once merely garbage.

"I go to a lot of scrap metal and antique shops," Brudniak said. "A lot of stuff actually ends up on my front porch. I've got so much stuff now. I just built a new studio and I thought I could never fill it up. Now, within a year, I'm already out of space."

Brudniak finished addressing his viewers and as people exited Wupperman, the message that Brudniak was trying to communicate resonated in their minds.

"If you weren't thinking, you would just be flesh and bones," Brudniak said. "Your own thoughts create who you are, I think. Without your thoughts, you're just a body."

For additional information on Steve Brudniak's art, where his next exhibit will be or ways to purchase his work visit www.stevebrudniak.com.