Visual Art

Video Installation Examines Communication

Kristin Frosch |

The Furlong Gallery at UW-Stout is currently featuring an emotionally and psychologically charged visual art piece by Iowa artist Erica Duffy. The creation is constructed out of four large video screens displayed in a circular fashion, depicting physical contortions and facial expressions as a result of the common stuttering condition. The piece is meant to evoke thoughts on the destruction of communication and resulting realization of individual identity and place within the sphere of normality. This topical theme penetrates all of Duffy’s previous work, and is a subject of personal interest in her own life. “As a person who stutters, I have experienced this fragmented type of communication. The sounds caught in my throat and tumbled around my tongue, the strained muscles of my neck, and the contorted gestures of my face do not fit into the expected social construct of most persons – therefore, they experience it as a disruption,” Duffy said. Stutter can be viewed through Nov. 12 at the gallery. Also present at the Furlong Gallery is the painting and drawing exhibit Joie de Vivre, featuring the mural paintings of the late Wisconsin couple, Shomer Lichtner and Ruth Grotenrath. Both are sure to inspire the creative-minded.