AMES, Iowa — Iowa State University College of Design students were honored with awards and showcased their work at the April 8 combined reception for the annual Focus Grant and APEX student juried exhibitions at the Iowa State Memorial Union.
Encaustic Prairie
Integrated visual arts graduate student Josianne Ishikawa of Ames created a mixed-media installation called "Encaustic Prairie" (cyanotype, textile, encaustic). She created 28 11-inch-square encaustic paintings on wood panels as well as a video essay recorded at Ada Hayden Heritage Park and in the encaustic studio in the ISU Food Sciences Building.
The installation includes an altar composed of prairie grass and a wax bowl of prairie-plant seeds placed at the base of the wall-hung painting assembly.
Ishikawa said she wanted to show her appreciation and bring attention to the importance of Ada Hayden's work save the prairie. The first woman to earn a doctorate from Iowa State, Hayden was an assistant professor of botany for 30 years and curator of the ISU Herbarium (now the Ada Hayden Herbarium) from 1934 until her death in 1950. She is known for her conservation work to preserve Iowa’s tallgrass prairie.
In developing her project, "I wanted to combine the symbolism of an ancient land (Iowa’s prairie) with an ancient art form (encaustic)," Ishikawa said.
Heather Sauer, Design Communications, (515) 294-9289, hsauer at iastate.edu
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