Some of the toys are less than an inch tall, but in Corinne Martin Diop’s “Toy Portraits,” they gain monumental proportions.
Diop’s series of color photographs that explores the role-playing and “personalities” of small, figurative toys is the subject of the first public art exhibit of the new school year at Eastern Mennonite University.
The exhibit opens Sunday, Sept. 9, with a reception and gallery talk for the artist at 2:30 p.m. in the art gallery located on third floor of EMU’s Hartzler Library.
Diop is professor of art at James Madison University and also serves as the graduate coordinator there.
A 1978 graduate of Eastern Mennonite High School, she received a BS degree in art from JMU in 1984 and an MFA degree from the University of Washington.
Diop recently served as juror for the Virginia Beach Boardwalk Art Show and currently has work from the “Toy Portraits” series at the Beecher Center for Art and Technology at The Butler Institute for American Art in Youngstown, Ohio.
Other local exhibitions have included Laughing Dog Productions, the Joshua Wilton House and the John Clore Gallery at First Union Bank, all in Harrisonburg, and at Blue Ridge Community College, Weyers Cave.
The display is open daily for viewing during regular library hours through Oct. 7. Admission to the gallery is free.
Hartzler Library Hours
Mon.-Thur. 7:45 a.m.-11 p.m.
Fri. 7:45 a.m.-6 p.m.
Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Sun. 2 p.m.-11 p.m.