'Lady Blue' Startles Boys In Blue At Oregon College Of Art And Craft

PORTLAND, OR — Glowing eyes are not what most cops want to find while searching a dark building for suspected criminals — just ask Washington County Sheriff's Deputy Anel Ceric.

While responding to an alarm call at the Oregon College of Art and Craft on July 9, Ceric — using only his flashlight — turned a corner to find a long, dark hallway, at the end of which were two glowing eyes emanating from what appeared to be a human, though it wasn't like any human Ceric had ever encountered.

Ten days later, Ceric shared his experience on Twitter:

Her name is "Lady Blue"; and while she wasn't meant to appear like something from a horror movie, her creator Julia Roberts told Patch that she is meant to unnerve those who cross her path.

"The piece is meant to be startling," said Roberts, a 21-year-old senior at the OCAC. "While she is life-sized, you're looking down on her. She speaks to that sense of losing control of something over which you typically have control; a sense of helplessness and vulnerability … blue, sad, and depressive emotions.

"('Lady Blue') would have the viewer reflect on what the sense of helplessness feels like."

Created over 120-plus hours with acrylic paint, spray adhesive, silver spray paint (for the glowing eyes), and sieved cornstarch, "Lady Blue" is the first life-sized sculpture Roberts has had the pleasure of producing, she said.

"Many people have told me (Ceric's Tweet) blew up on Twitter," Roberts said with a chuckle, admitting that she doesn't personally maintain a Twitter account and didn't even know Ceric had made his post until her friends shared it with her on Facebook. "I thought it was hilarious."

"I feel like I'm proud it scared them," she continued, laughing. "That's what she's meant to do: startle people … I'm just glad they didn't shoot her."

A five-year veteran with the Washington County Sheriff's Office, Ceric from time to time enjoys sharing via social media "the weird stuff we run into," he said.

"Lady Blue" clearly fell into Ceric's category of weird encounters.

"At the end of the hallway, all I could see was a couple glowing somethings staring back at me. I may have said a couple curse words before realizing it was a statue," Ceric told Patch. "The glowing eyes really threw me off."

OCAC President Denise Mullen offered her sympathies.

"The piece was never intended to scare anyone approaching it in a dark hallway with a flashlight," she said apologetically. "But anytime officers go into a dark space, anything can appear alarming or not what it really is. Everything can appear different in the dark.

"But they've had great, good humor about it," Mullen continued. "If nothing else, it's caused a great deal of interaction with the work."

Student work displayed around the OCAC isn't anything new, Mullen explained. Art hanging from the ceiling; sculptures hiding in the grass; or the complete transformation of community open spaces is common, she said. "Sometimes, you have to be careful where you're stepping."

And though Ceric had been called to the OCAC before, "This was the first time it was like something out of a movie," he said, noting the two other deputies who were there that night also thought "Lady Blue" was a bit creepy. "Kudos to (Roberts for) how realistic it is. It definitely caught us off guard."

"I feel urged to apologize," Roberts said. "But what do you expect? It's an art school."

Follow Julia Roberts' artistic endeavors on Instagram at jtr_ceramics.

Photo Courtesy: Denise Mullen, president for the Oregon College of Art and Craft