Stacey Steers: Night Hunter

January 17 – April 21
Koppelman Gallery
Curated by Gallery Director Dr. Amy I. Schlegel

The Tufts University Art Gallery at the Shirley and Alex Aidekman Arts Center is proud to present Stacey Steers: Night Hunter, on view from January 17 to April 21, 2013. A public opening reception will take place on Thursday, January 24, from 5:30 to 8 pm, with a spotlight tour of the exhibition at 7:15 pm. The Tufts exhibition includes a large-scale projection of the film, eight preparatory collages, and Night Hunter House, a mixed-media sculpture from 2012, inside which an excerpt of the film appears on a mini-HD-TV screen in each of the three-foot high dollhouse's ten rooms.

Meticulously crafted from approximately 4,000 handmade collages and incorporating images of actress Lillian Gish (1893-1993) taken from silent era live-action cinema, Stacey Steers' 15 min. 30 sec. film, Night Hunter, evokes a disquieting dreamscape drawn from allegory, myth, and archetypes. Transitions, both biological and metaphorical, emerge as a central theme in the film.

Night Hunter took over four years to complete. Steers created on average eight distinct, handmade collages for each second of screen time. This "handmade film" was shot in 35mm color on an Oxberry animation stand. Music and sound for the film was composed by Larry Polansky, a professor of music at Dartmouth College.

Steers, who teaches film studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, creates rich, timeless, and imaginative environments through the combination of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century engravings, illustrations, photographs, and early silent films. In some instances Gish is cut out of specific scenes and reconfigured within collage settings, while collage materials are applied directly to printed film frames in others. The subsequent fluidity of character becomes a critical element in the texture of the film and the identity of the principal character.

This exhibition was curated by Tufts University Art Gallery Director Dr. Amy I. Schlegel. An interview with Steers and Schlegel appears on the Gallery's website. Night Hunter was exhibited at the Denver Art Museum in 2011 and at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH in 2012.  The artist will be in conversation with Tufts Professor of Philosophy Nancy Bauer on March 29 at noon at the Tufts Center for the Humanities, Fung House, 48 Professors Row, Medford.

To tour Night Hunter House, click here >

Download the Press Release >

Read Amy Schlegel's interview with the artist >

Listen to our guided tour stops here:

STOP 7: Introduction to Stacey Steers: Night Hunter, Amy Ingrid Schlegel, Director of Galleries and Collections, Tufts University

STOP 8: Stacey Steers speaks about her work