CSC showcases works by two artists

A Sam Cikauskas exhibition is on display in Memorial Hall’s main gallery from Monday through Oct. 9.

Cikauskas received his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from Northern Illinois University in 2012. He is a graduate student and part-time instructor in printmaking at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, and his work is held in numerous permanent collections located in Limerick, Ireland; Gippsland, Australia; and in The United Arab Emirates. Recently he has been volunteering at community gardens and supporting local farmers in Boulder, Colorado. Cikauskas’s works include lithographs, woodcuts, etching, and aluminum and acrylic. The focus of this particular show is to convince people to keep a closer eye on what they consume.

“I hope to entice the viewer with the captivating line work of my relief prints, ultimately persuading them to eat healthier foods,” Cikauskas wrote in his statement for the show.

One piece, titled “Thick and Rich,” portrays a bottle of Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup with the label, “Mrs. High Fructose Corn Syrup.” Another lithograph called, “Monsantola” features a Coca-Cola advertisement with the words, “Enjoy High Fructose Corn Syrup” encircling the coke bottle.       As observers move around the display, however, the works turn from light-hearted to dark. The intensity of the browns, reds, and blues Cikauskas uses illustrates the intensity of the scenes portrayed. In “Fowl Play,” a slaughterhouse is depicted with chickens being sucked into a vacuum. In another piece, cattle hang from chains hooked into the ceiling with a sign over the door leading outside to freedom reading “Exist” instead of “Exit.”

Yet another woodcut, “Anima,” portrays a pig on a conveyor belt with each portion of its body labeled with the particular meat that comes from each part of the pig. Question marks appear repeatedly in Cikauskas’s work, leaving the observer to wonder if the artist has a few probing doubts in his life he is trying to answer through his ominous artwork.

Works by Chris Blume are on display in Memorial Hall’s room 239 gallery from Monday through Oct. 9.

Originally from the western suburbs of Chicago, Blume is now located in Boulder, Colorado, where he is a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) candidate in printmaking at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He has taken on the role of student, artist, printer, and educator in recent years with a passion for creativity and Midwest work ethic. His works can be seen in private collections, nationally, and internationally.  Blume uses several methods including lithography, drawing, and Intaglio. The show on display in Memorial offers viewers a glimpse into the future, or at least, the future as envisioned by Blume.

“The imagery in my recent project includes steam-powered time traveling viewing devices, recovered shields from battles once to be fought, and those who will empower themselves over the population,” Blume said in his show statement.

Art goers may feel a sense of foreboding of what is to come when viewing images such as “Premonition,” a lithograph portraying a small porthole looking at a cross consumed in smoke and surrounded by skulls and bones.

“American History, Collages of War” encompasses a series of pieces with war-headlined newspapers, the Twin Towers, and the Virgin Mary looking to Heaven in prayer. Other works, like “Aesthetics of Balance, I and II,” bring a sense of nostalgia in the laid-back oranges, grays, and browns depicted in the oil, acrylic, charcoal, graphite, and wood.

“The reoccurring subject matter of religion, technology, and nature parallels the issues we face today. I use my own social structures, wares, and technology as a means of criticizing the human condition and the possible dystopian result of the world,” Blume said.