The Tarble Arts Center recently hosted the event “Gallery Talk” as a part of the 2015 faculty art exhibition, which has been at the Tarble Arts Center since Nov. 6 and will be there until Jan. 10 as a main gallery.

The Gallery Talk event was a chance for the Eastern and Charleston community to hear from faculty artists about their artwork.

The art at the gallery was from both older and newer artists. Four faculty members were there to talk about their art including art professor Ann Coddington.

While Coddington was speaking, there was an audience of people of ages ranging from college students to senior citizens. The event offered an open atmosphere for the audience to ask questions about the art, the speaker and the techniques, among other topics.

Coddington said art, for her, is a “vehicle for communication.”

Coddington did not begin to take interest in being an artist until she took a fiber class while studying interior design in college. Coddington explained her inspiration for the pieces on display and said her work is based off of fiber art from the 1960s.

Coddington showed her variety of items at her display including six sculptures that she called “heads.” The “heads” were sculptures that resembled human heads in different materials and shapes. One of the heads was made up of a straw-like material Coddington found in one of her friend’s fields in Missouri.

Coddington said the idea to create six different heads came from the fact that she grew up with six people in her immediate family.

Coddington explained the people are able to connect with her art, because they are familiar with fibers.

“There is a familiarity of fibers; we wear them,” Coddington said. “We are sitting and standing on them. They are on the walls.”

Coddington said the materials she uses speak “psychologically.”

The technique Coddington used on most of her “heads” was an ancient basket-making technique called twining.

Coddington also used this technique for another sculpture that she made that looks like her hands. She calls the sculpture “hands home.” Coddington said she made the sculpture in the shape of her own hands to make sure they perfectly fit together in unity. She also said she had to make the sculpture twice to make sure the hands would fit perfectly within each other.

Another piece that Coddington made is a suit that she calls “White Boy’s Suit.” The suit is made of wall fibers. Coddington said she got the name of the piece from a poem.

The other speakers at the event include art professor Christopher Kahler, art history professor Robert Petersen, and art professor Alan Pocaro.

The gallery is set to continue until after the first of the year. The gallery is free and open to the public during regular business hours at the Tarble Arts Center.

Sydney Edwards can be reached at 581-2812 or skedwards2@eiu.edu