USF students transform house into art
A giant rocking horse, walls as cozy as a child’s blanket and black and white drawings of women and children will challenge the perception of visitors to a Wilcox Street bungalow that has been turned into an art house by University of St. Francis students. "The Departure Show" by USF art students opens Friday, March 24 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The show can be seen through May 2 at 418 Wilcox Street in Joliet. Gallery hours are by appointment only. Call (815) 740-3404.
This exhibit explores the concept that a house can be seen as a metaphor for the human body and a vessel for the storage of memories. Five student artists transform the space with installations, videos and performances that investigate many issues, including childhood memories, domestic and sexual abuse, innocence lost and mortality. 
Amanda Hamilton of Rockford, Katherine Jannusch of Minneapolis, Minn., Linda Lawinger of Huntley, Ill., Ivka Markovic of Plainfield and Joe Pavlik of Oak Lawn collaborate to turn an unoccupied home into sculpture. This select group of artists from the USF Studio Art program in the Art and Design Department use a rich variety of art-making approaches that include traditional practices (painting and drawing) and contemporary practices (video and performance art).
Artist Lawinger examines childhood and "not wanting to grow up." She says the scale of her six-foot tall rocking horse and a 12-foot fleece teddy bear may make viewers "uncomfortable or make them warm inside and remind them of childhood." In the room with the teddy bear, the walls are covered in chalkboard paint, and visitors are invited to express their thoughts. Lawinger also covered the walls of one room with pink, blue, green and yellow fabric and a silky border reminiscent of the blanket she had as a child. "My message might be that you really grow up," Lawinger said.
Jannusch seeks to raise the awareness of domestic violence and abuse to let people know "the damage is permanent." She has transformed the house’s bathroom in an installation piece "3600 Flies." Depicting the "decay of home life, house and family," Jannusch has installed 24 totem poles each made of 150 black, plastic flies. The totem poles each stand two and a half feet high.
For her second installation, "The Drawing Room," Jannusch covers the walls of an all-white room with drawings of women and children in scenes of before, during and after abuse. The images, done in black marker, are "more dramatic with the stark contrast," she said. The images are ambiguous, but capture facial expression in an effort to bring their pain to life.
Amanda Hamilton’s work focuses on the violent loss of childhood innocence. Markovic focuses on the reflections on one family’s experiences of war and Joe Pavlik expresses the fragility of the human body, specifically in relation to disease and aging.
The University of St. Francis is at 500 Wilcox St. in Joliet. The Catholic, Franciscan university serves 4,100 students nationwide. The university offers more than 60 areas of undergraduate study, including arts and sciences, education, nursing and business. Eleven graduate programs in health care, business and education are offered.