REBECCA SMITH
"In the Stable of My Mind"
Our lives are a mysterious web of memories from experiences, contained within our minds. When we first have the experience, they are vivid, bright, mixed with colors,forms, and smells. As time passes, they begin to become fragmented, disjointed, faded, sometimes surreal and mixed with emotions, and at times completely forgotten, vanished no matter how much we try to remember the instance within our lives.
For me, thinking back on memories of the joy horses havebrought into my life, even from a young age, always bringspeace to my soul.
The memory of colorful my little ponies as toys to my firsthorse and my children’s interaction with my first horse“Baby” can instantly bring a smile to my face, even if sometimes a loss can be felt.
The disjointedness of the remembered experience is shown by using two multi-panel canvases, both inspired by the same picture of my horse and my children in the pasture. With an alternate prominence or absence of figure and ground, and with the use of the blank of the canvas, I reflect on the nature of my memories and loss.
Read Rebecca's full exhibition pamphlet here (PDF)
ISABELLA KLEPIKOFF
"dis-
communication"
The Oxford English Dictionary defines the prefix “dis-” as “with privative sense, implying removal, aversion, negation, reversal of action”.
Growing up, I was slow to pick up on language. I remember being small, listening to talk shows on the radio, and hearing the way consonants would bump and crack in my ears meaninglessly. Understandably, this got me in trouble at times,leaving me misunderstood or misunderstanding.
As the years went by, I turned to imitation. I wanted to be socially involved and accepted. I slowly picked up on what words got what reactions, and found that more important than their "real" meanings. I was parroting whatever was around me, especially characters on TV. This slowly infected every part of my life. I was living in the third person, always double checking to see the way I presented.
My work started as an anthropological research into community. I began intensely observing my relationships. Familial, romantic, friendly or otherwise. Many of my art pieces became relational. Sculptures with two sides, or that require interaction, and that somehow always centered around communication. I wanted to understand what it was that I was missing.
Read Isabella's full exhibition pamphlet here (PDF)
HANNAH CUNNIGHAM
"Reverie"
Reverie: a state of being pleasantly lost in one’s thoughts; a daydream
This tryptic explores the themes of self-discovery and spirituality. The artwork creates a world where creativity runs free, representing the mind and its power. My purpose was to create a narrative through multiple oil paintings, highlighting myself as an artist. I wanted to combine photography and painting, using digital art to add surrealist elements and push my creative boundaries to develop my painting abilities. This piece has become a representation of my own artistic voice; my love for uniqueness through a balanced composition.
The inspiration began with these little sparkles I found, and I wanted to stick them all over myface. I then decided to take the photos in my bathtub, because of the colorful tile andatmosphere. I then drew a grid on the canvases and did a quick sketch of the contour lines. After that, I was filling in blocks of color, slowly layering the color onto the huge canvases. Through this work I have confirmed that I am detail oriented, having the most fun when painting the small details and blending the paint until there are no obviousbrush marks.
Read Hannah's full exhibition pamphlet here (PDF)
MAKENZIE WEBSTER
"Tethered Selves"
I draw women with tiger bodies. I give them koi fo thoughts. I wrap their silnce in waves and pur their inner worlds into hair, feathers, and ink. My art is a way of externalizing the internal - of mapping the emotional terrain I move through.
This capstone is made of pieces that straddle the line between control and surrender. Each work explores identity through symbols of transformation: tigers, fish, water, flowing hair.
Read Makenzies' full exhibition pamphlet here (PDF)
