Sarah Spinner Liska, the new Kent State University Museum director, hopes to attract the university community and the broader public with a new exhibit inspired by the Icelandic landscape. 

“We’re hoping that it will engage and inspire current students in their creative journeys in the School of Art and beyond,” said Spinner Liska. “We are also hoping that it will engage members of the public to visit the museum and see her work.”

The exhibit features the works of Icelandic artist Hildur Ásgeirsdóttir Jónsson, an alumna of the School of Art at Kent State. She received her BFA and MFA in Art in the 1990s and is now a world-renowned textile artist who continues to create art in Cleveland. 

“We are calling it a homecoming exhibition because it’s a chance for us to celebrate an artist who started her journey here,” said Spinner Liska. 

The exhibit showcases almost 20 years of Jónsson’s collection. The oldest pieces date back to 2006 and 2007. 

The subject of the exhibition is the Icelandic landscape. The artwork encapsulates the natural world of Iceland where Jónsson was born and grew up. She continues to go back and visit for inspiration. 

When Jónsson visits Iceland, she takes photos of nature and later creates works of art from them. She does this by blowing up parts of pictures that she resonates with to a greater scale. She then copies the blown-up image onto a warp and a weft and paints it.  

What makes Jónsson’s process unique is that she uses the Japanese method of Kusari which requires both the warp and the weft. This method is what makes her work appear fuzzy. 

“To do the weaving first and then to create — it causes the misalignment of the threads so they are not exactly lined up the same way they were when she painted it,” said Sara Hume, the Museum Curator.  

The enormous scale of Jónsson’s artwork makes the viewing process an immersive experience. 

“The gallery allows for work of a very large scale so in some ways, it feels like you are being transported or walking into an Icelandic landscape,” said Spinner Liska. 

Something Spinner Liska hopes to achieve with the Jónsson exhibit is to make the public aware of the art programs at Kent State. She believes that showcasing a graduate of the program is a great way to get people to recognize the successes of the School of Art.  

“[Jónsson] is a testament to the success that the alums of the program here have had. She’s a world-class artist,” said Hume. 

To raise museum awareness, Spinner Liska has begun hosting opening celebrations for the new exhibits. The opening celebration for the Hildur Ásgeirsdóttir Jónsson exhibit was on Thursday, Jan. 23, and over 200 guests came. This included students, faculty and artists from the community. 

Jónsson attended the opening celebration and was delighted to see so many people support her and her artwork. 

“It is very fulfilling to make artwork that people respond to,” Jónsson said in an email. 

When creating this exhibit, Spinner Liska hoped students would be a large part of the audience. 

“One thing I really want to get across to students is that we welcome them to visit the exhibition,” said Spinner Liska. 

Spinner Liska intentionally began hosting opening parties as a fun way for students to become more involved with the museum. 

All students with a Kent State ID have free access to the museum, which is open six days a week. The exhibit will be open until Aug. 23. 

Mallory Hughes is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].