Shelbie Harris
Staff Writer
An obsession for artistic expression paired with the respect and similar style of British fashion designer Alexander McQueen unites two Idaho State University seniors in a less than traditional, yet beautifully savage manner.
Noi Thannao and Seth Spencer grew up in Southeastern Idaho. Thannao in Pocatello and Spencer in New Sweden, just west of Idaho Falls. Both chose to attend ISU based on its proximity to friends and family.
“I was born in Thailand but immigrated to Pocatello when I was five years old,” Thannao said. “My parents escaped from Laos during the Vietnam War. We won the lottery and came to Pocatello.”
Winning the lottery didn’t involve scratch tickets or matching Powerball numbers, but did allow Thannao and his family to leave a Vietnam refugee camp, and immigrate to America.
On the other side of the spectrum, Spencer was born and raised in the rural farmlands of Bonneville County.
“New Sweden is a very close-knit community, everyone knows everybody on the one mile block of roads based on the grid road system,” Spencer said.
Before attending ISU, Thannao spent time at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, California, as well as Boise State University.
Spencer considered attending Boise State or BYU-Idaho but eventually decided ISU was the best fit for him.
Although both students have an incredible passion for art and creativity, the backbone of their inspirations are vastly different.
“I feel like art is the only thing I’m really good at,” Thannao said. “I have a background in apparel and graphic design so I try to incorporate technology and graphic editorials into my work.”
Thannao said that with technology being such a moving force within the fashion industry, including textiles and broadcasting, it’s important for him to merge the two into one creation.
“My dad is a fine artist specializing in oils and landscape,” Spencer said. “Post-impressionistic styles is most of his game, but he also does portraiture and wildlife. I grew up around the classic studio artist. I always thought my dad’s art was his way of translating his love for the land.”
Spencer said that growing up with a dad who was an artist, and a mother who consistently encouraged him to keep drawing, inspired him to become interested in contemporary styles and art history which led to his fascination to follow in the footsteps left by the heroes of his craft.
When asked about a favorite artist, both Thannao and Spencer said Alexander McQueen was one individual that sat atop the list, and in fact, is the person their upcoming show “Savage Beauty” is dedicated to.
“He believed in keeping things pure, involving nature in a traditional way,” Thannao said. “But being able to do so while breaking the rules and keeping things modern.”
McQueen passed away five years ago and his last show before his passing was also titled “Savage Beauty.” The show by Spencer and Thannao is a tribute to McQueen based on the expression of those two masterfully crafted words.
“Savage. Like wild, untamed, visceral,” Spencer said. “It’s cool, Noi [Thannao] has this fashion background and Alexander McQueen was such a power-player even though he was on the scene for such a relatively short amount of time, but his influence is still very, very potent in all creative genres.”
Spencer said “Savage Beauty” incorporates fashion but more so McQueen’s ability to take things from nature and the wild and switch it up, while still maintaining the most natural form possible. Both Spencer and Thannao take that ethos and incorporate it into their own works.
“He’s one of those few designers I don’t see as just a designer, he’s an actual artist,” Thannao said.
Thannao, who plans to graduate in May with a Bachelor of Arts degree emphasizing in graphic design and printing technology, is also the winner of the 2015 Simplot Games Poster Contest, while Spencer, who expects to graduate after the fall 2015 semester with a Bachelor of Fine Arts emphasizing in painting and printmaking, won the 2014 Holiday Card Contest.
Both students said that professors Juliet Feige, Scott Evans, and Laura Ahola-Young, among many others, have provided exceptional support and motivation, and without their desire to want to produce awe-inspiring artists, whether their works sometimes surpass that of their own or not, wouldn’t be where they are today.
The exhibition, “Savage Beauty,” will be held in the John B. Davis Gallery, located in the lower level of the Fine Arts Building from April 1 to April 10, with the opening reception taking place on Tuesday, March, 31 from 6 to 8 p.m.
“I think with art, and the observational skills art gives you, when applied to other walks of life, creates magic,” Spencer said. “Without people who have the observational skills of being an artist, the world would be so boring, and I would be miserable.”
