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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 7, 2000)
Arts&Entertainment Artist sends message in exhibit Mailboxes become artwork, represent UNL student’s life By Josh Nichols Staff writer Often we take our mailboxes for granted. We check them every day, and often times, they contain bills and other state ments we don’t want to see. But every once in a while, the little box holds something that can brighten our day. Whether it be money from the par ents, a birthday card from grandma or just a letter from a friend who you haven’t spoken to since high school, mailboxes can present some unexpected surprises. Kelly Diamond, a senior printmaking student at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, hasn’t taken this form of com munication for granted. Her exhibit “Love Mail,” on display in Gallery 9,124 S. Ninth St., symbol izes her love for the relationships she has been able to hold with family members and pen pals by means of the U.S. Postal Service. Her display contains an array of mail boxes she has decorated and personal ized to represent the different people who are important in her life. Some are colorful, some have words printed on them, and some just look nor mal. But each contains pieces of writing, pictures and other precious items she has received from loved ones and that she associates with those people. “The exhibit is based on a reflection of who I am,” Diamond said. “The mail boxes symbolize the people in my life and the basic qualities they bring out in myself.” Most of the mailboxes represent peo ple who she described as her pen pals from her hometown of Washington, Missouri. In a time when many students have resorted to e-mail and the World Wide Web to maintain contact with their roots, Diamond has stuck to the traditional method. It’s the personal feel in mail that Diamond likes. “I’m trying to preserve the art of let ter writing because of a fear of e-mail,” she said. When one first approaches the exhib it, he or she encounters a desk that con tains many of Diamond’s personal items that she would have at the desk where she writes. It has some of her favorite books on it and pictures hanging above it of people who are important to her. One of the pictures is of her grandpa,. who died two years ago. She said a majority of her inspiration for this Shawn Ballarin/DN show was drawn from the teelmgs she held tor her grandfather. One bright red mailbox sits in the center o& the exhibit. It reads “Wild Bill Sass” on the side and rep Because they take pride in acres and acres of gardens, the couple also sends h<Srseeds for her garden, which als&can be found in this mailbox. An&thepmaiibax.qn display contains holi day cards ahtfa girl scout uniform. resents her grandfather. Birds and butterflies have also been incorporated into her exhibit, which she said also represent her grandfather and grand mother. Encircling the Wild Bill mailbox in the center of the room are three walls of mailboxes representing the other significant people in Diamond’s life. Mail WHERE: Gallery 9 .IMintl^St : March 3 -31 * 4 : > This mailbox represents her aunt who sends her cards every holiday and encouraged her to be a girl scout and do “girl things” when she was a child. One of the more com mon-looking mailboxes on display represents her par ents, who Diamond said “would not have an out-of control mailbox.” A Daily Nebraskan One mailbox represents an older couple who travels the world and sends Diamond items from everywhere they go. Cards from museums and galleries can be found in this mailbox along with postcards and mail from other countries. clipping about Tom Osborne’s political aspirations can be found in her parent’s box. She did this because her father is an avid football fan. Other mailboxes displayed in the exhibit represent Diamond’s friends, and one box represents herself. Also, six of her paintings are on display. They represent a pool her grandfather had and filled with fish after the death of her grandmother. Diamond said she has had the idea for this exhibit for about three years. She said her original idea was to make a show of mailboxes with mail that she had made. Each mailbox contains articles that can be rummaged through and looked at, and Diamond encourages visitors to do so. Her artist statement, which is displayed on the wall, reads, “Please touch the art. This instal lation was designed for your interaction. So go ahead ... read my mail and enjoy. Affectionally yours, Kelly” This is the first full exhibit that Diamond has had on display in Gallery 9. She is a relatively new member who has only been there since August. Carol Devall, another Gallery 9 member, described Diamond as a “fabulous new mem ft I’m trying to preserve the art of letter writing...” Kelly Diamond featured artist at Gallery 9 ber.” “It is a unique exhibit like I haven’t seen here before,” she said. She said the interactive aspect of it is what makes it unique. “You can spend a lot of time with this exhib it,” she said. “We strive to come up with some thing that you don’t see everywhere else.” Having her work on display makes Diamond feel as if the time put in was well invested. “I’m glad to see this idea happen after so many years of thinking about it,” she said. “The time invested makes it worth it.”