Seniors display artwork
Hyman Fine Arts Center (FAC) hosted the Senior Showcase, Emerge, to celebrate the work of five senior fine arts students.
The senior projects were displayed in the FAC from Nov. 14 through Dec. 17. A reception was held Nov. 17 in the FAC. The reception offered refreshments to guests and allowed the senior students to be present while family members, friends, students and faculty observed their work. Angelica Rhodes, Kathleen Kennebeck, Tori Payne, Thomas Powe and Amanda McDaniel featured art at the senior showcase.
Rhodes’ senior project consisted of four pieces of photography: Eros, Phileo, Agape and Storge. The collection was titled “Love on Earth.” Rhodes’ project captured the importance of all types of love, both brotherly and romantic, and how love holds people together. Rhodes plans to attend graduate school after graduation to pursue a degree in graphic design.
“Life out of Death” was a photography collection created by Kathleen Kennebeck. The collection included five photography pieces centered around a color described by “The Wordless Book,” which Kennebeck used to spread the word of Jesus Christ to children over the summer through the Child Evangelism Fellowship. The colors were black, red, white, green and yellow.
Payne created book covers for some of her favorite books and hand- bound them for her senior project. Payne drew and painted each cover to reflect her interpretation of each of the author’s whose books she bound. Payne said book- binding has been a hobby of hers, which led her to select this as her senior showcase. Although she does not plan to pursue a career in book- binding specifically, she said that she will most likely continue this hobby in her free time.
Powe’s senior project was a line of audio software titled “Division.” The showcase was meant to expand upon the electronics department. Division includes high- quality speakers, a resource manual and promotional items. Powe’s senior project is aimed towards displaying and encouraging originality. According to Powe’s artist statement, this line was designed to express Powe’s love for audio and his personal growth in audio and graphic design.
McDaniel presented her series of paintings titled “Birds in Flight.” McDaniel said she wanted her senior project to portray the beauty and purity of nature, specifically in animals. McDaniel’s paintings combine realism and abstraction to make her work unique.
Painters that have influenced McDaniel and the work featured in her senior showcase include Jackson Pollock and Anne Richardson. McDaniel also wanted her showcase of birds to represent allowing children interested in art to be free to pursue their dreams rather than being caged by the idea that they should not get too involved in art.
“I think it’s good that we can show all that we have been working on,” Payne said. “It’s fun and a good way to end the semester.”
Nicholas Barber, junior graphic design major, said he enjoyed seeing the FAC celebrate the work of senior fine arts students.
“I like that it showcases the students’ hard work that they have put in all year, the training and the knowledge they have gained through the university,” Barber said. “You see important people here, and the students can make connections, which will hopefully get them off to a strong start after graduation.”