Collegiate Times

What brought artist Pat West, whose work is currently featured in the Perspective Gallery in Squires Student Center, to Virginia Tech was a crush on a football player. What kept her in the area was an English professor who she ended up marrying.

Now her artwork is being featured in the Perspective Gallery, located on the second floor of Squires Student Center.

West based her show, titled "Far Away," on a 100-day trip she took with her daughter, who had recently left her job and wanted to travel.

 They bought plane tickets to Bali and traveled through Northern Vietnam, Nepal, Indonesia, Thailand and even went hiking in the Himalayas without a guide. The collection includes paintings, sculptures, as well as multimedia items that capture the essence of their trip through these exotic locales.

"Each (piece) is an attack on canvas," West said, who began painting in her early 20s. "Each one becomes an expression into itself ... I want my shows to be an experience and I would hope that each piece would give (viewers) courage."

West described "Far Away" as the hardest thing she has ever put together. She particularly had a difficult time with the various sculptures in the show because she doesn't usually work with that sort of medium.

In fact, she became so frustrated with one of her sculptures titled "Monks Dancing in the Forest," which is made up of several sculptures of trees with monks in saffron robes hanging from the trees, that she broke a small piece off of them.

The Perspective Gallery features local artists in addition to nationally- and internationally-known artists. Art Programs Coordinator Mary Tartaro personally selects each show that goes into the gallery.

Tartaro, who has been director of Perspective Gallery for a year, invites "artists the students don't usually see. Art that tries to get them to think about things differently."

"I try to bring in less traditional artists and keep the gallery very contemporary and not very detail-oriented."

Tartaro wanted to bring in a local artist, and thought of West.

"I like the movements in her paintings. She's a well-liked, well-known artist in the area," Tartaro said.

Tartaro and a group of students who work with her redesign the gallery every four to six weeks when a new show comes through. Tartaro said this method's aim is to help better convey the meaning of the entire show.

This year, an engineer-turned-artist from South Korea will travel to Blacksburg to speak about his work. Tartaro is also planning on featuring a black artist's work in honor of Black History Month, as well as holding a special show for the Latino holiday, "The Day of the Dead."

Gallery attendant Elyse Ward, a senior studio art major, has been working at Perspective since April of last year and said that she enjoys meeting the local artists.

"It's nice to see someone who's made it and is exhibiting," she said.