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NEWS
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THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFY KANSAN
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
CONTRIRUTED PHOTO
Artist and KU graduate Jay Van Buren enjoys painting "furries," who are people who create alternate personas centered on furry animal costumes. Van Buren's show featuring paintings of furries opens this weekend at The Cross Gallery in Kansas City, Mo.
'Furry fandom'tickles artist's fancy
SPOTLIGHT
BY MATT LINDBERG
mlindberg@kansan.com
An artist can get his inspiration from almost anything. Just ask Jay Van Buren, a 1994 KU graduate living in Brooklyn, N.Y. Van Buren is having "Fursuit Portrait Paint-off" from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday at The Cross Gallery, 2012 Baltimore Ave, in Kansas City, Mo. Van Buren's show will feature his paintings of people who dress in human-sized animal costumes called "furries."
What got you into art and developed your style?
It was a weird process. It started with abstract geometric paintings, which is very complicated. I started
to put things on a table and paint them — specifically stuffed animals — like a teddy bear. Then I literally began painting huge-sized furries.
What was your experience at KU like?
I studied painting and I got a fantastic education. I had really strong painters for professors who really taught me well. It was really a good place to be as a painter.
You have been living in Brooklyn, so why have a show in Kansas City?
"The gallery where my event is at actually had done a show with me 10 years ago. They looked at my work again, and the show came together. I thought it was a great chance to
come back because I grew up in Topeka, attended KU and I lived in Lawrence. I have family and close friends here.
What inspires you to paint furries?
impresses you to paint furries.
When people look at a stuffed animal — they believe it has some type of personality, or it's dead. People will say my work is creepy or cute. I always paint from reality, and it's a serious commitment because I'm not just painting a person in an animal costume. I am trying to get the persona of the person in that suit and the suit itself at the same time.
What do you hope students will gain by attending your show?
I want people to have a good time.
I think my paintings have a special appeal that even non-paint fans can get into and enjoy.
A lot will be going on — we'll have an emcee hosting the show, a sculpture maker. This event is really about two subcultures coming together, one being the art world and the second being furry fandom. Furry fandom is a subculture of fans who enjoy the idea of dressing in furries and creating this other personality.
What can people expect from the show?
— Edited by Amelia Freidline
SPOTLIGHT
Uganda native happy across globe
BY SARAH NEFF
sneff@kansan.com
Chris Okello, Hutchinson junior, grew up in Kitgum, Uganda. Kitgum is in northern Uganda near the border with Sudan. Okella moved to Hutchinson to live with his aunt and uncle when he was 16.
Imagine falling asleep to the sound of gun shots. Each night, wondering if you will make it until morning.
Jon Goering/KANSAN
That was life for Chris "Tito" Okello, Hutchinson junior, growing up in Kitgum, Uganda.
When Okello was 4 years old, rebels came to his house to recruit his father for their army. His father refused and tried to run. The rebels shot him six times. Okello said there was no hospital or medical center near his home. That night, Okello watched his father die.
"I believe he stood up for what was right, it was the right thing," Okello said. "It's just sad that it had to go to that way. Nobody could stop it so I guess I can't change it either. It's just part of me. I can't complain; I'm good now. I'm happy where I'm at. I love the group around me so I let the minor things but you. Go know it's sad, but how long am I going to hold it?"
eral times when the rebels would come to villages to do horrible things to the people, such as cutting off an ear or putting a hole in a person's lips and using a pad lock to lock them shut. He said many times people had to rip out the pad locks themselves because there were no hospitals around and they didn't have the key to the lock.
Okello said he remembered sev-
Okello was sent to boarding school in Uganda where he lived in a dormitory with about 20 other students. He said rebels would come at night and target 10- to 14-year-old boys to train as child soldiers. He said he saw many of his friends get abducted, and he only knew of one who escaped. Okello said his friend got away when the rebels ran into the government troops. He was shot in the leg and laid there until the rebels left. The government troops arrested him, but he was only 12 years old, so they took him to a hospital until he healed from the wound and then sent him home. Okello said his friend was not the same person
Okello said going away for school in Uganda made it easier for him to come to the United States. He said he stayed at school nine months of the year, so he didn't see his family very often. When he was at home, he spent most of his free time outside playing soccer with his friends. Okello said the time away from his family made him feel distant.
"They have no mercy. They tell them to shoot, and they shoot. Tell them to kill, and they kill," Okello said.
after he returned.
When Okello was 16 he moved to Hutchinson to stay with his aunt and uncle. He said it was a difficult adjustment, but he was glad he staved.
Okello's roommate, Brendan Reilly, said Okello got very somber and quiet when talked about his past but didn't dwell on it.
"He's seen a lot more than probably everyone on campus combined," Reilly, an Overland Park junior, said. "But I know he wakes up every day
and he couldn't be happier that he's in America and in the situation that he is"
Okello's supervisor at a restoration company, Jeff Moore, said Okello came to work in the morning smiling. Moore also said Okello frequently volunteered to work emergency shifts.
"Right now I pay for my own tuition, and I pay my brother's tuition back home," Okello said. "If I was in Uganda I probably wouldn't have done that. I call it a blessing
because right now I can wake up in the morning knowing exactly what my options are, what I have to do, what needs I have to satisfy or not."
Edited by Kyle Carter
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