Author, professor, activist and photographer to ECU

Yesterday, ECU was honored with the visit of a woman of many talents, Elin O'Hara Slavick. Slavick, a professor of art at UNC-Chapel Hill, feminist, author, activist, photographer and world traveler, she visited ECU to present a lecture as a part of Visiting Artists Week.

"She's a photography professor by trade and an activist by life - her work is a social statement, which I feel is a trait all visual communicators should strive for," said Adam Jacono, an ECU photography graduate student and president of the ECU Photography Guild, who invited Slavick to come share her art. "Her work speaks less about a traditional 'fine art' [to] what I would call socially irresponsible artwork, and more about social/cultural issues that matter in the real world."

At 5:30 p.m., Slavick presented a range of her photographic collections in Speight Auditorium, from "Workers Dreaming," a series portraying underpaid, underprivileged workers closing their eyes as if to escape from real life, to "Travel Posters," a collection designed to show that pictures are not always "worth a thousand words," as the old cliché says.

Slavick began the night showing artwork that she had drawn in fourth grade. The piece, which Slavick said she loves to show, featured her mother. What is interesting about this piece is that she is the only child in the picture and, as Slavick laughingly said, "I am the youngest of seven."

She also presented work that she designed from a feminist point of view, with pieces such as "Mistress," and a piece from a project she designed on the idea that "being a woman is putting on a masquerade."

"To Elin, art is a tool for change, not a commodity," said Frank Stasio on North Carolina Public Radio in a March 2008 interview with Slavick. "She uses art to get her students to think in a new way."

Slavick told the audience in Speight Auditorium that she thinks art can change things.

"As an artist, I believe in the power of art to change the world," she said. "I believe art has enormous power. [It] can change the way we look at, think about and act in this world."

Slavick grew up in a household where her activist Catholic father gave her a camera at a young age, and her German mother who encouraged her to draw. According to Slavick, her upbringing is what pushed her into the art arena.

"Art was a big part of [my] life," she said. "[I] wasn't allowed to have coloring books, I had to use white paper. My parents had a huge influence on my life."

Before the lecture, ECU art students had a chance to present their portfolios to Slavick for critique.

From these beginnings, Slavick now parades her art around the world. She has had exhibits in Hong Kong, Canada, France, Italy, Scotland, England, Cuba, the Netherlands and across the United States.

Jacono hoped that the lecture would push students to understand and do something to change the political and social landscape in the U.S.

"I'm hoping people are concerned enough with the problems in [our] culture [to] find inspiration in Elin's lecture about what can be done to change," he said. "I think that her visit is a great follow up to the politically motivated work up currently in Mendenhall, and crucial to issues concerning this election right around the corner."

This was Slavick's first visit to ECU.

To see her artwork, visit http://www.unc.edu/~eoslavic/.

This writer can be contacted at features@theeastcarolinian.com.