Amelia Dewberry-
Junior Studio Art / History double major Megan Lipke has created a striking art installation on display in Beck Hall.
Lipke found the inspiration for her work on a recent trip to Nairobi, Kenya, to visit her older brother who was volunteering there. While there, Lipke met young children who are addicted to huffing jet fuel and sniffing glue. The volunteer organization, Alfajiri, works to rehabilitate the children and does art therapy with them.
“I’m trying to raise awareness of these children addicted to the glue and jet fuel and also to get people to realize there are places trying to help them so that potentially there can be some donations,” Lipke said. She said the biggest challenge was seeing the children and their situation. The children showed her how they used different things to huff. “When you see like six-year-old kids who are addicted to drugs, it’s just really emotionally draining,” Lipke said. The ideation process and figuring out how to do them justice proved challenging.
The art installation features foam core silhouettes of children with rags and used plastic water bottles to represent how they use the jet fuel. She combined images of children standing around to find the size and shape of the silhouettes and then cut them out with an X-acto knife. “I crumpled up the plastic bottles, removed the labels, and ripped up a rag to use as like what they soak their jet fuel into, and then I’ll have to glue them together and stick them up to the wall,” Lipke described.
Lipke’s work is located in the main atrium of Beck Hall underneath the main stairways. She chose that location because it receives a lot of foot traffic and would be seen by many. She also considered that the History and Communication Studies departments are housed there and thought they were relevant to associate it with, especially considering the history in Africa that has contributed to the addiction faced by children.
When people view her art, Lipke hopes people understand that this is a real problem that most people probably aren’t aware of. She hopes people “realize the blessings that we have here and that most people have a home and have food and have clean water. And we have resources for children who don’t have parents like we have social services. There, kids are just kind of left, and they don’t get help unless there’s volunteer organizations.”
Lipke’s art installation is part of the Day course taught by Associate Professor in Art and Art History, Kristen Lowe. “My favorite part about the course is just exploring how I can make different artworks to display around campus and trying to figure out who to talk to and how to get it displayed. Everyone can see your artwork, which is really fun,” Lipke said.
She has been making art at a college level since her sophomore year but made smaller things on her own before that. Lipke has found that at college, she is making larger-scale pieces. “I’ve been exploring a lot of why I’m actually creating rather than just making whatever comes to my head,” Lipke added.