From a photographic triptych of toy train tracks discovered by the artist while going through boxes filled with remnants of his childhood to a painting of a couple looking at a painting (left), the 2004 Art Department Faculty Exhibition boasts a variety of faculty works in a range of media -- ceramics, conceptual and information art, textile, drawing, painting, printmaking, photography and sculpture. The exhibit can be viewed through March 18 in the Fine Arts Gallery of the Fine Arts building.

"The 2004 faculty show is exciting," said Fine Arts Gallery Director Mark Johnson, whose work is also featured, "because it includes innovative and conceptual approaches to varied artistic media and demonstrates why the faculty at SFSU consistently garners acclaim for its excellence."

One of the works featured in the show that illustrates some of the innovative techniques being used by Art Department faculty members is "Nightwatch" (left) by Assistant Professor Gail Dawson. For years Dawson has analyzed the differences in the quality of natural light and electronic light in her paintings and video installations. To create "Nightwatch," she filmed people viewing a 17th century painting in Amsterdam. The resulting painting, informed by one frame of the video, features several hues of blue reflecting onto the man and woman studying the classic artwork.

The show also features several faculty members working outside their primary medium. For example, ceramicist David Kuraoka is showing works in bronze and print artist Mario Laplante presents an installation of ceramic figures dipped in wax.

"Our faculty is an incredibly accomplished group of people with a wonderful diversity of creative interests," said Art Department Chair Sylvia Solochek Walters, a printmaker.

"This exhibition is a great way to promote the accomplishments of all the faculty, introducing our new professors and displaying more recent works of established professors."

The exhibit features work by faculty department members Candace Crockett, Dawson, Lewis deSoto, Jeff Downing, Barbara Foster, Leonard Hunter, Johnson, Dale Kistemaker, Kuraoka, Laplante, Paula Levine, Paul Mullins, Francisco Perez Cardona, Irene Poon Andersen, Paul Pratchenko, Cherie Raciti, Walters, and Steve Wilson.

Gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays.

-- William Morris and Matt Itelson