Roanoke College Art Exhibition: Oct. 30 ? Dec. 4

Oct. 30 ? 6 p.m. lecture: E.V. Day in Olin Gallery ? 6-8 p.m. Opening Reception in Smoyer Gallery Olin Gallery - E.V. Day - Divas Ascending E.V. Day?s presentation for Roanoke is an exhibition featuring four suspended sculptures from her Divas Ascending series made from the costumes of renowned female opera characters - Butterfly from Madama Butterfly, Mimi from La Boheme, Carmen and Cinderella. Each sculpture reflects the particular role each costume has played. The interplay between the story of the opera from which each costume came, the moment created by the sculpture, and the physicality of the transformed garment?its materials, its shapes, its colors, floating in this celestial space?is what Day hopes viewers of her installation will appreciate. As in much of her work, Day uses tension to suspend, stretch and shred garments, creating forms that she likens to futurist abstract paintings in three-dimensions. This selection for Roanoke represents four of the 13 originally commissioned by New York City Opera. Day has exhibited work nationally and internationally at such venues including The Whitney Museum at Altria, The Museum of Modern Art, Houston Grand Opera, and Cornell University. Smoyer Gallery - Trevor Christensen- Nude Portraits Nude Portraits examines the unequal relationship between photographer and subject, leveling the playing field in an unorthodox way. By photographing subjects in a heightened state of vulnerability, this body of work explores what happens when subjects are confronted to male nudity in a context devoid of eroticism. This vulnerability is achieved by making portraits without clothing. Nude portraiture in the context of this series refers to the photographer unclothed, not the subject. Subjects are made explicitly aware beforehand that Christensen will be photographing them nude. They understand that they may feel uncomfortable, but they should not feel unsafe. Images of the photographer are not included in the series, leaving viewers to speculate to what the subject is reacting.