By Diane DeBiase—
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when walking into the Casa Colombo on Monmouth Street in Jersey City. I have been to art galleries and I have been to book and poetry readings, however this was something in its own element. This was a showing where the pictures told the story. It was a feeling, an idea, and a complete story all in a photograph.
Casa Colombo is a beautiful Italian Education and Cultural Center which held the “Eye Write” exhibition. It showed artworks by artists that are writers who are also interested in visual art. The featured artists were Angel Eduardo, Danielle Miksza, Laura McKeon, and Melida Rodas. They are all members of ProArts Jersey City and this show was a stop on the Jersey City Artists Studio Tour 2012. All four artists displayed their artwork in different ways, yet each immediately captured the viewer’s eye and attention.
The work of Angel Eduardo, a graduate of NJCU, was the most solemn of the group. His artwork included pictures of sleeping dogs, fire escapes, and a beggar on the street. The tone of his pictures was very dark and somber. “All I try to do is capture memories, emotions and perspectives. Sometimes they manifest in poetry or prose, sometimes in song, and other times in a single, silent image,” said Eduardo.
Laura McKeon is also a graduate of NJCU and uses her pictures to tell a story about her past. She was born in Key West, Florida, and in each photo we can see how much she loved the area where she was born. Most of her photos are named after animals and nature from Florida such as Iguana, SeaGrass, Shells and Crabs. The pictures are bright and cheery, making one think of vacation. All her photos put one’s mind in a good, happy place.
Danielle Miksza is a recent graduate of NJCU and her photos were much more bright and optimistic. Danielle’s photos were colorful and weren’t hard to understand. Some of Danielle’s photos were named Shy, Trance and Silhouette. “For me, photography is allowing the eyes to write the story for themselves instead of it being given to them in print form,” said Danielle. She allows what she feels and sees to manifest in each picture.
The final artist was Melida Rodas. Rodas was also a graduate of NJCU and her photos were like Eduardo’s in their dark tone. Rodas used different types of materials to showcase her pictures. Some were newspaper and photos on a wood block. Another type was bamboo over newspaper. Her photos were very deep and thought provoking. Some of her titles were Waves, Mom Dad Baby, and Trinity.
These photos showed the soul of each one of the artists. Each artist opened their emotions and their feelings and let out these beautiful pieces of art for us all to enjoy. It was truly a great experience and I cannot wait to go to another one again.
