SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Izzy Dugger hosted her “Poetry and Paintings with Izzy” exhibit at the Petit Branch Library on Friday. The exhibit will be part of her first book.
The exhibit was inspired by the Syracuse Poster Project in which artists craft a painting after a short poem.
“The artists choose the haiku they want to paint and then send it in,” Dugger said. “They’re judged and at the end of the year, they get put up all around downtown Syracuse.”
Syracuse artist combines her steampunk and fantasy art with haikus
Izzy Dugger: A phone for his head – the majestic elephant charges like clockwork.
Joseph Duffey: The Poetry in Paintings Exhibit by Izzy Dugger took place at the Petit Branch Library on Friday. The Syracuse artist paired each painting with a haiku.
Dugger: The concept that we came up with was to pair the haikus I’ve written with my paintings. So, all of these are prints of the paintings and I wrote haikus to go with them. And it was a precursor to my book.
Duffey: The book Dugger speaks of is years in the making and will be full of her work, but this specific exhibit was inspired by the Syracuse Poster Project.
Dugger: The artists choose the haiku they want to paint and then send it in and they are judged, and at the end of the year, they get put up all around downtown Syracuse. Last year, my painting was chosen and so my painting was downtown. This year my haiku was chosen, but my painting was not.”
Duffey: While I speak here quietly at the Petit Library, I passed by this dictionary to my left and I looked up the word “art.” One of the definitions of the word art is a “field, genre, or category.” And while Izzy did not major in art at Buffalo State University, much to the dismay of her mentor, she majored in art education – something that would help her so much as her career progressed.
Dugger: People who have been drawing since they were two, then they get better and better. But, if you stopped drawing when you were two, then that’s how you draw now, as if you were still two.
Duffey: Dugger taught in the Syracuse City School District for over two decades. She loved working with young, bright minds that could take a project and make it their own. Her steampunk and fantasy-inspired work hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Quinn Gardner: We get different artists to exhibit their work every month or almost every month. So, we see lots of interesting different art styles and artwork here. It’s really great.
Duffey: Izzy Dugger exhibit proves that art is a spectrum. Her love for art in teaching or painting can’t be put in a box. Joseph Duffey…..
Dugger: I particularly like that haiku….
Duffey: NCC News.
Dugger: Basking with her closest friends – rats though they may be.
Dugger, a native of Binghamton, graduated from Buffalo State University with a degree in art education – not art, much to the dismay of her teaching mentor because Dugger was a talented artist. Nevertheless, she followed the degree’s path and taught in the Syracuse City School District for 23 years.
She believes that a true artist can be formed if they remain persistent. The artist always reminds herself of what she used to tell her students.
“People who have been drawing since they were two, then they get better and better,” Dugger said. “But, if you stopped drawing when you were two, then that’s how you draw now, as if you were still two.”
She describes her genre as steampunk, which is a subgenre of science fiction, and fantasy. This was the first time Dugger’s work was displayed at the Petit Branch Library, and it did not go unnoticed by children’s librarian Quinn Gardner.
“We get different artists to exhibit their work every month or almost every month,” Gardner said. “We see lots of interesting different art styles and artwork here. It’s really great.”
Dugger views all the paintings as her “children.” If she had to pick a favorite from this collection, though, it would be “Telephant.”
The poem read, “A phone for his head, the majestic elephant charges like clockwork.”
The term “art” has multiple definitions, and a “winning poem or piece” can be subjective, as it ultimately lands a piece in downtown Syracuse. Dugger has learned that from the Syracuse Poster Project in the past.
“Last year my painting was chosen and so my painting was downtown,” Dugger said. “This year, my haiku was chosen, but my painting was not.”
Dugger is a lifelong artist and remains hopeful in Syracuse’s embrace of art. She noted how some, including a curator she had met, don’t see Syracuse as a spot for art appreciation.
“The Westcott area is huge in terms of art. The Strathmore Art on the Porches is really cool every year,” Dugger said. “The curator I mentioned is always harping that Syracuse has no art scene and doesn’t appreciate real art. But I don’t agree with him.”
Izzy Dugger does not see herself stopping any time soon. This exhibit reminds her why she continues to dip her brush.
“I want people to remember the images. The haikus are just sat on the side. I want people to sit with it,” Dugger said. “If you purchase something, I don’t want you to hang it on your wall and be bored the next day.”
To look at Izzy Dugger’s art, visit izzyspaintings.com.