By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Imagine what a person must look like to a tiny ant — enormous.
Wendy Tan in her master's of fine arts exhibit "Enormous" turns the tables on human beings by flipping perspectives. She has created giant ant sculptures from iron, bronze and aluminum.
"We look at the ants that are so small, and we swap the role," Tan said. "The ants are like a human."
Tan's exhibit will be on display through Dec. 17 at the Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art on the Fort Hays State University campus.
"What would you feel if these giant ants were real?" Tan said. "It's not horrible or scary. I want to create harmony."
Many of the ants in Tan's sculptures take on human characteristics. They're mothers, fathers, friends, lovers and members of teams.
"Their social life is kind of like ours," Tan said. "They have queens. They have soldiers. They have captains to decide what to do like us in our human life."
A pyramid of interlocking ants is titled "Teamwork." Tan said teamwork is important in sculpture, especially in metal pouring.
"We cannot do our own," she said. "We have to help each other."
Tan also created a giant dandelion, which is a focal point in the exhibit. As the natural light in the gallery shifts during the day, shadows emerge and create varying visual perspectives.
Another dandelion is a focal point in "Make a Wish." However, since the inception of the pandemic, some viewers have interpreted the dandelion as the corona virus.
"It is like make a wish for it to go away," she said.
Tan injects humor into her work with "Got Stuck," which is a giant ant that appears to be stuck in a gallery wall.
Tan said she was inspired to create both the ant sculptures and the abstract paintings that are part of the exhibit growing up in the forests of Malaysia.
Tan used latex house paint for her paintings. She imagined that she was painting the many bushes of vary colors in the forest.
"I imagine I shrink down myself and walk into that painting," Tan said. "You imagine you are small and walk into the bushes"
She was inspired to the use the latex paint by Jackson Pollock, who used the same medium. It is more challenging than oils in that it has a fast dry time. However, Tan said she appreciates the soft effect she can achieve with the medium.
Tan will graduate with her MFA from FHSU in May.