Fire and Ice
Collection: Houston Airport System (HAS)
2015
Oil, chalk, over collaged print matter/distressed canvas
Location:
William P. Hobby Airport (HOU)
7800 Airport Blvd
Houston, TX 77061
About the Artwork:
Fire and Ice (2015)
by Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak
Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak, born in Ohio in 1951, is a visual artist who earned her MFA from George Washington University and moved to Houston in 1977. Her artworks are in the collections of Oxford University, University of Houston, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, and more. Bodnar-Balahutrak has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Award. Her practice includes collecting newspapers, photos, handwritten letters, postage stamps, maps, etc. to include in her visual arts pieces that often reference cultural and socio-political issues. Here is an example of Bodnar-Balahutrak’s mixed media works, which is when an artwork is made with more than one medium or material, that uses oil paint and chalk over collaged prints and canvas. It measures four feet high and eight feet wide. From afar, the artwork shows branches and trunks of small trees with small, red berries, perhaps in a snowy landscape. Looking closer, there are images underneath the oil paint and chalk, perhaps from newspapers; they seem to show fires and/or groups of people. Bodnar-Balahutrak said: “I examine the nature of print media and see how narratives can be manipulated, disguised, and hidden. How does what we say and don’t say impact our knowledge of events?”
Fuego y Hielo (2015)
Fire and Ice (2015)
by Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak
Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak, born in Ohio in 1951, is a visual artist who earned her MFA from George Washington University and moved to Houston in 1977. Her artworks are in the collections of Oxford University, University of Houston, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, and more. Bodnar-Balahutrak has received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Award. Her practice includes collecting newspapers, photos, handwritten letters, postage stamps, maps, etc. to include in her visual arts pieces that often reference cultural and socio-political issues. Here is an example of Bodnar-Balahutrak’s mixed media works, which is when an artwork is made with more than one medium or material, that uses oil paint and chalk over collaged prints and canvas. It measures four feet high and eight feet wide. From afar, the artwork shows branches and trunks of small trees with small, red berries, perhaps in a snowy landscape. Looking closer, there are images underneath the oil paint and chalk, perhaps from newspapers; they seem to show fires and/or groups of people. Bodnar-Balahutrak said: “I examine the nature of print media and see how narratives can be manipulated, disguised, and hidden. How does what we say and don’t say impact our knowledge of events?”
Fuego y Hielo (2015)
por Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak
Lydia Bodnar-Balahutrak, nacida en Ohio en 1951, es una artista visual que obtuvo su Maestría en Bellas Artes en la George Washington University y se mudó a Houston en 1977. Sus obras forman parte de las colecciones de la Oxford University, la University of Houston, el Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, y más. Bodnar-Balahutrak ha recibido el Premio del Programa Fulbright para Académicos de los EE. UU. Su práctica artística incluye la recopilación de periódicos, fotografías, cartas manuscritas, sellos postales, mapas, entre otros elementos para incorporarlos en sus obras de artes visuales, las cuales a menudo hacen referencia a cuestiones culturales y sociopolíticas. A continuación, se presenta un ejemplo de las obras de técnica mixta de Bodnar-Balahutrak, cuando una obra de arte es hecha con más de un medio o material, en la que emplea pintura al óleo y tiza sobre impresiones en collage y lienzo. Mide cuatro pies de alto y ocho pies de ancho. Desde la distancia, la obra de arte muestra ramas y troncos de árboles pequeños con bayas rojas diminutas, tal vez en un paisaje nevado. Al observar más de cerca, se aprecian imágenes bajo la pintura al óleo y la tiza, quizás procedentes de periódicos, que parecen representar incendios y/o grupos de personas. Bodnar-Balahutrak dijo: “Examino la naturaleza de los medios impresos y observo cómo las narrativas pueden ser manipuladas, disimuladas, y ocultadas. ¿De qué manera lo que decimos y lo que callamos influye en nuestro conocimiento de los acontecimientos?”