All photos courtesy of Amanda Peckler
Given audio, film, installation, and photography, you may wonder what these mediums all have in common besides being related to art. For four artists — Hadia Bakkar ’20, Kadijatou Diallo ’20, Amanda Peckler ’20, and Cristianel Gil ’20 — these styles all work together to redefine familiar places.
The group of artists put together a Case Gallery exhibit titled “By Any Medium Necessary,” which showcased work from different mediums that were all functioning together to make alter the spaces we all know too well.
The four wanted to show themselves in a new light. They span disciplines from Political Science to Biochemistry, and encompass a wide range of backgrounds. Due to this, they wanted to show the Skidmore community a side of them that you might not expect- their incredible multi- media talents.
Bakkar had two audio pieces in the gallery that she made over the last year.
“One of them I made through the summer; I was doing reporting on Syrian Refugee women and the community in general in the Capital District,” while the other is about a Lebanese band and how it connects to a larger political theme.
Diallo represents the film medium, showing a short documentary that she worked on over the summer with an audio artist. Through interviewing different people in Los Angeles and New York, she got a sense of the places that people work in, facilitate in, dance in, and skate in and how those are considered safe spaces for queer people.
Peckler chose to do an interactive piece for the exhibit by interrupting public spaces “in order to invite people to reflect on their core beliefs.” She set up “reflection” bowls around campus with the hopes of gathering anonymous responses from students
In doing this, Peckler wanted to create a safe sanctuary for people to reveal their true selves while also contributing to a meaningful exhibit. Being a multimedia artist, she wanted the opportunity to bring her digital art to life, and fell in love with the interactive aspect when she debuted a former project of hers.
“There’s artists hiding in all these little pockets of campus, and people don’t know that,” she says.
Peckler created the installations in the gallery, and Gil completed the space with photographs.
Gil photographs revisited and reimagined private spaces that are often muted. His photography series Celebration! explores identity in transnational spaces as they relate to his Dominican-immigrant identity.
The pieces in the gallery, although coming from different mediums, work together in a cohesive way. According Bakkar, all four artists “from underrepresented backgrounds at Skidmore, and do not come from your traditional art background.”
The exhibit started coming together in October, when the group began the groundwork for what pieces they were each going to show.
“It’s been a really good collaborative process because of how all the themes came together,” Diallo explained.
Pro Arts, the club that helps students showcase their work in the Case Gallery, is an amazing resource that allowed these four students to make one of their artistic dreams become a reality.
The four are encompassing different styles, disciplines, and upbringings, creating an exhibit that reaches far beyond the art world and into one that examines issues and experiences unique to them.
The exhibit helped to serve as an “entryway for people to think about themselves in a different way,” explains Peckler. There is an artist in everyone, and communities of creatives are continuing to help these individuals release their originality by making more space. “By Any Medium Necessary” was just one step in this long process.
Follow the four artists on their platforms and help support their creative careers.
Also check out her interactive website on the project she has been working on about Jewish womanhood here
Keep up with all things Pass the Mic on Soundcloud or Instagram @Passthemicskid
Watch put for the second part of her Senior Capstone- another gallery opening in the Spring.
Explore her project Sanctuary that was in collaboration with Khenya Makena
Follow her instagram @realfakeglobal
Explore Bakkar’s audio work on Soundcloud
