“Paradoxical Unification,” a gallery focused on the married ideas of Sheldon Malicke and the influence his parents had on his view of both nature and technology, displays in the John R. Adams Gallery Oct. 10 to 21.

Malicke said that it wasn’t until recently that he had uncovered his concept.

“I have always been conscious of the subject matter of my work,” Malicke said. “This paradox that my parents have influenced was happening subconsciously, and it was not realized until I was preparing for the exhibition.”

He said his work reflects his childhood. He was very adventurous and wanted to be outside, but something inside of him changed. He had a growing inclination for videogames and cinema and his hobbies often clashed with one another. The work he is displaying portrays the confusion in his childhood that has began to make sense.

A few pieces of work were left out of the gallery in order to give it a balanced effect, the same number of landscape and drawing to digital. A few works include “Afternoon at Gage,” a landscape, and “Peregrine,” an intaglio print of a Peregrine falcon.

Malicke said he at first wanted to be an engineer, but changed his mind when he became a sophomore at Washburn and was fulfilling his general education requirements. He then changed to work in the fine arts.

He said that the oldest work happens to be the focus of the exhibition, which is “Joker,” a charcoal drawing. It was created in drawing II in 2014.

“The piece brings together my passion for nature and cinema in a single drawing,” Malicke said.

Each piece was an assignment for a specific course and the time each piece took ranges from one week to an entire semester. In the non-digital aspect, charcoal is what he started with in 2013 and it continues to be his favorite dry medium. He said he was introduced to Adobe Illustator lately, and started to love it over time.

“There is something about the manipulability and contrast of charcoal that cannot be replicated with other similar media,” Malicke said. “Graphic design is my major, so digital illustrations are naturally a part of my gallery. After taking digital drawing and painting with Azyz Sharafy, I knew that I wanted to focus on the digital aspect of art.”

Malicke said he hopes to become a video game designer, and wants to gear his studies towards it.

“Create art because it is your passion, not as a means of employment,” Malicke said. “If you’re not having fun with what you do, then you shouldn’t be pursuing it as a career.”