Pictured: Saypoff with her piece entitled Anguish and her professors in the Caldwell College Art Department: left to right: Sister Gerardine Mueller, O.P., Julie Saypoff; and Art Department Chairman Professor Lawrence Szycher |
Caldwell Continuing Education Student Culminates College Career with Art Exhibit Debut
Julie Joy Saypoff, a 2008 graduate of Caldwell College, debuted her art work at her first solo exhibition at the Visceglia Gallery on Caldwell's campus. The exhibit, which was entitled Energy, was held the week of May 12. Saypoff, a resident of Short Hills, NJ, graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Fine Arts on May 18.
Saypoff's latest sculptures are in copper, as well as plaster, and portray the visualization of an emotional energy based on the gesture of a piece. "I prefer to work abstractly so that the viewer can focus on the internal voice rather than associating the form with the familiar." She is greatly influenced by the work of Spanish painter/sculptor Cristobal Gabarron, whose work is displayed internationally.
Saypoff says the faculty in Caldwell College's Art Department was extremely knowledgeable and encouraging. The program, she said, "broadened my vision and allowed my creativity to flourish. My way of viewing the world in terms of art has evolved. Now, all form has sculptural possibilities." Saypoff also appreciated how she was able to have a proper exhibition. "I had the opportunity to use both indoor and outdoor gallery space and was really able to express myself."
Saypoff says attending college as an adult was much more fulfilling than when she was younger. "My priorities are different now and as a result, I was much more focused and excited by my studies." A wife and mother, with one child still at home, she says, "I made it work by becoming more organized, sleeping less and having a very understanding and supportive husband."