by Aliene De Souza Howell (MFA 2011)
We have been fortunate to receive an esteemed line of artists and guests during our time with LIA. Christiane Baumgartner, largescale woodcut artist, was the first to visit our studios in early July for a critique in addition to graciously taking us into and showing us around her own studio.
 |
| Christiane Baumgartner (second from left) speaks with Tyler Vouros (green shirt) about his art. |
Baumgartner’s impressive woodcuts, as big as 102 x 138 in. are printed manually, entirely by her own hand. Her work combines the historical technique of woodcut with the contemporary medium of video. Her subject matter is derived from her own video footage taken from cars, trains and media. This enables her the idea of motion, a central theme in her pieces.
Two members from the Mayor’s Department of Leipzig came, excited to foster international relations and extend a gracious hello from the City with free symphony tickets. Reaching from even farther lands, Nishiraj Baruah, Associate Head Editor of India’s most widely circulated newspaper with a team of support and Leipzig officials, interviewed us about our work and experiences here.
 |
| David Schnell contemplates Ian Cao’s new work. |
David Schnell, famed Leipzig School painter, was the most recent to call on the LIA studios. His dynamic work tows the line between abstraction and representation, painterly and precise, with perspectival explosions bursting with color. His critques were incredibly insightful and considered to suit each person’s work.
 |
| Schnell talks with Rabecca Signoriello about her paintings. |
His feedback was crucially timed at the end of our visit, allowing him to see our creative development here. He left us in contemplative discussion and will certainly prove advantageous for our Thesis work in September.
 |
| Schnell gives me (Aliene) some feedback about my work. |
With a day to process the last critique we are now in the throes of preparing price lists, titles and the like for our exhibition marking the final days in Leipzig and the pieces we’ve worked so hard creating here.
