THELAKER | 7 campus happenings Natural resources alum paints with foraged pigments Alexander Fals, a natural resources conservation alumnus, and his partner, Hayley Dayis, held a joint exhibit of paintings called “Generation Earth” at the main campus over the summer. Alexander and Hayley work with foraged mineral pigments from volcanic soils in the region of Cauca, Colombia. ey use water and an adhesive to turn about 150 powdered pigments into paints, yielding works dominated by earthy oranges, reds and browns. For example, one shade, black as coal, is literally nely ground powder of the combustible rock. Alexander grew up in Naples. When he was 17, he spent a year as an exchange student, living with his father’s relatives in Colombia. ey introduced him to the art of using natural pigments. “As a young man I was deeply moved by the unique painting practices of my family,” Alexander said. A er attending FLCC, he moved to Colombia to try his hand at painting with foraged pigments. Hayley, who had been looking for natural alternatives to toxic paints, learned about Alexander’s work and sought him out at a Rochester art event. Now, the couple spend about half the year in Colombia and about half in the Rochester region pursuing their art and hosting workshops in natural pigment painting. Look for their work online at foragedpigmentart.com. These women rock The theme of the 2024 Spring Arts Festival was “A Tribute to Women in Rock.” Students performed 18 songs, including “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” as sung by Joan Jett, “You’re so Vain” as sung by Carly Simon, “Be my Baby” as sung by the Ronettes, and “Respect” as sung by Aretha Franklin. Landon Ingersoll on bass; Cat Oldfield on guitar and vocals; Trevor Agnello on drums; and Eric Higgins on guitar are all music recording technology majors. Ash Carney, a student in the Early College Scholars program for high school and home schooled students, was one of five who provided American Sign Language performance signing during the event. PHOTOS BY RIKKI VANCAMP Alexander Fals with “La Mujer” (“The Woman”) in the Williams-Insalaco Gallery 34
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTcyNDA=