BFA Exhibitions
BFA EXHIBITIONS Spring 2022
See some of the incredible work our students have accomplished.
Rayona Reynolds
“…I have always had a soft appreciation for delicate and sometimes grotesque, tiny creatures and know many others do not share my fondness for these slugs, worms and beetles. I believe that a connection and empathetic view towards tiny, insignificant creatures often leads to a more empathetic view of fellow humans…
…Oftentimes creatures of the forest imitate their surroundings with similar colors, textures and forms, in which they reside. Within my installation, I have attempted to do the same, going as far as to arrange their habitat in the shape of landmasses. Imitating nature, while bringing in the comfortability of non naturalistic materials, helps me create the ultimate indoor outdoor hybrid where humankind and the natural world meet again.”
Naomi Dimsha
“…Over the last few years I have honed in on my passion and what I most enjoy creating; portraits using oil and acrylic on canvas. As a portrait painter my goal is to create a celebration of people and their beauty; both inside and out. I keep my pieces fairly simple in design, using singular color background to enhance the more subtle undertones of the painting…The smallest detail can bring a painting to life, express the deepest sadness, or the greatest joy. The main theme behind my works is a love and appreciation for the human experience. I think it is important to find beauty in the world around. Even in the current climate of the world, these paintings represent the love I have for the people around me, and their intrinsic beauty.”
Emma Geary
“In this series of figurative oil paintings, I use color and form to explore the relationship between how men and women have been traditionally depicted in art and other media, and the actual reality of being a woman in a largely man-dominated world…Originally, this series started as a simple exploration in color. However, through my work with the figure and my search for models, both male and female, it evolved into a commentary about what the female body vs. the male body really means in art. In my search for reference photos, I noticed that it was considerably harder to find poses of women in these powerful and controlling poses, while it was quite easy to find males in them. On the other hand, it was quite difficult to find male figures in these submissive and closed off poses…
…I feel like I often struggle against men to make myself heard and to be seen, and I know many women who feel the same. These paintings are a way for me to express this struggle and show how it really feels to be a woman – powerful and vibrant.”
BFA EXHIBITIONS Fall 2021
Exhibitions this fall took place in the Fine Arts galleries once again! See below for some of the incredible work our students have accomplished.
Natalie Blake
Three Stories, Three Pieces
“This exhibition is meant to compile a few of these stories, to share them and hope that others might find a bit of the same interest that had captivated me as child. To explore how art can work in conjunction with writing to create a more readily available means of storytelling that’s more accessible to a wider range of audience, the art setting a mood in an attempt to evoke a sense of liveliness, as even stories from a singular source can diverge wildly from each other in order to better convey their subject matter. The purpose of storytelling is to captivate, to hook onto the viewer and draw them in, and, it’s in this way, that my art is meant to catch you.”
Elizabeth Casper
Horrors of the Pandemic
“As both an artist and a horror fanatic, I spent most of the 2020 COVID lockdown painting and watching scary movies. It was when I watched Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining where I first noticed a distinct correlation between the extreme feelings of cabin fever Jack faces in the movie compared to what most of the world was experiencing during lockdown. This central idea helped me to establish a series of commonalities within the fictional world of horror with the very real horrors the world experienced in 2020. “
BFA EXHIBITIONS Spring 2021
Our BFA class of 2021 is exhibiting exclusively online due to social distancing. Help us support our graduating seniors by viewing their exhibitions below!
Bianca Wemhoff
“Bianca Wemhoff is a painter who often incorporates thread to her paintings to expand on the fluidness and similarities other material have with paint, while also playing with texture and the expectations of traditional oil paintings. Interested in how different renderings mix once placed on the same surface, she works with blocked-colored backgrounds behind a stylized central figure who has been altered in some way through the use of thread and the manipulation of the canvas itself. Her goal is to add a contemporary and whimsical approach to a traditional self-portrait, with each piece wildly different then the last.”
Isabelle Montalvan
“This photographic series has to do with a wildfire that destroyed my family’s home and forced a move that dramatically impacted my life. That traumatic situation created a lot of negative emotions, yet it also informed and inspired my artwork. This last year of my BFA has seen a body of work that began as a medium for expressing these challenges, yet evolved into an artistic opportunity that saw me use found objects and images as a metaphor for shared sufferings.”
Turyn McBride
“My paintings are about these conformities to culture and social norms…These are flowers, but they are more about the human condition, homophobia, bullying and societal expectations. These paintings are from the perspective of a cis gendered man who is looking for an understanding of what masculinity is and how it relates to sexuality. My childhood was marred by the panic and mass hysteria of the AIDS crisis, little information was known but speculations fueled an atmosphere of mistrust and hate. This was directed towards anyone who did not conform to the traditional rules of a heterosexual society.”
Rebekah Price
“My works seek to show the isolation of dysphoria and the horror of being in a body that doesn’t reflect what one truly is inside…Through the consensual use of a transgender model, my friend Elliott, along with the act of taking the photo, I know my audience will be able to understand this uncertainty, loneliness, and fear of one’s self mixed in with the unnerving sensation of being forced into scenarios without their consent.”
Lee Sekaquaptewa
Stochastic Thoughts / Waking Dreams:
“I create work taking inspiration from my dreams and cultural heritage while intertwining pop cultural references. With content ranging from humorous observations of daily life to intercultural reflections and musings…Things that bleed into my creative process are: Colliding visual elements, collaged imagery, memories, stories, dreams, or personal and social issues. My cultural heritage provides a unique perspective, such that it is underrepresented and misrepresented (even for myself). My art has history, insights, and meaning that honors my culture and teachings. My perspective, dedication, and interpretation fueling inspiration, influence, and potential; not only for me, but for those around me. ”
Kira Edminster
“I create layered abstract fabric collages utilizing embroidery. My work involves the slow, meditative process of hand stitching, functioning as a drawing over each layer of fabric. While my work is abstract, I take references from nature, history, and folklore. The texture of the fabric and the texture created by embroidery is always my first consideration. I want to disrupt the potential usefulness of the material, while still acknowledging and appreciating it. ”
Elrond T Saltana
“Elrond T Sal is an Indonesian artist, born in Jakarta, [working] with multiple mediums to tell or create a story for others. Each piece is an attempt to explore the possibilities of storytelling with a focus on joy. Telling people that life is still a little bit beautiful. Focusing on an audience where people who are feeling stuck…and the depression of the world, with a little hope cheering and giving those people a little more energy to live for tomorrow.
Although there are deeper meanings that can be derived from each piece, it is not the focus of the piece. After all, each piece is originally made as something to smile and enjoy.”
Video: “Full Artist Website Experience”
BFA EXHIBITIONS 2020
Our BFA class of 2020 is exhibiting exclusively online due to social distancing. Help us support our graduating seniors by viewing their exhibitions below!
Please note that some of the images below may contain graphic content, self-harm, nudity
Claire Belmont
“As a Japanese woman, my birth Mother was raised in a traditional culture where women express love through acts of service – but never physical touch…My craving for touch has followed me for my entire life…My images are an exploration of touch and how touch influences human connection.
My goal with this series was to start a discussion about how touch is vital to human connection and to let the audience think about how touch has been present or absent in their own lives…This series is an opportunity for me to open a discussion with both my peers and professors about our relationship to our bodies and the exploration of connection through physical touch.”
Max Fries
“I create large scale paintings of urban landscapes to represent the economic challenges brought about in part by online shopping and the increased use of social media. By abstracting vernacular buildings and spaces, I invite the viewer to experience the mundanity and the emptiness of these public spaces.
As a child, I traveled from the rural woodlands of our home to concrete foundations, department stores, and entertainment commodities wrapping the topography of rural areas like gray plaid. Currently, while individuals are avoiding public spaces because of the COVID-19 pandemic, my hope is that viewers of my work will reflect on the contemporary prevalence of isolation. Even before the pandemic, the increased presence of social media, the decline of shopping malls and community spaces, and smartphones contributed to the seclusion more than ever. With these urban landscape paintings, I hope the audience of my work gives thought to the economic and social impact of these prescribed utility spaces without the presence of people.”
Sidney Westenskow
“In this body of work clothing is used as a tool to represent identity. Discarded clothing was collected from my own closet as well as my peers to create large biomorphic plush sculptures. These objects suggest almost human forms, mimicking the way the body fills clothing through the lumps and creases created by tension between the plush filling and the seams which have been created and recreated in the fabric. The objects begin as two-dimensional but when sewn together, stuffed, and hung from the ceiling they are activated and transform into three dimensional sculptures. The sculptures, though they exist as a collection of similar objects, all have their own personality. They have unique shapes and unique histories, and can be interacted with or related to in many different ways depending on the material of the clothing used, and the size and shape of the sculpture.”
Melanie Bricker
“My brain is a confusing place. My brain is messy and fragmented. I am an artist with a dyslexic brain.
To educate others about what it’s like to function with dyslexia, what it’s like to function as me, I’ve experimented with artistic layering in two- and three-dimensional formats to create my senior exhibit.
Octolexia is what I’ve named my mental processing method and my exhibit. It is a word made by combining “dyslexia” with “octopus.” Imagine this: you have a giant octopus with 20-foot tentacles sloshing around in your brain. Actually, this octopus IS your brain. Just as in nature, this octopus is an ever-changing shape, fluid in form and color as it molds itself to life’s circumstances.
My octo-brain is represented by a system of intertwining boxes…The viewer will often find it difficult to comprehend the correlation between objects, boxes and images, just as I do…I want the viewer to try to sort through emotions, decisions and societal norms while…trying to correlate purpose when there is none.”
Reilly Morgan
“These interior spaces were created to capture the vibrations someone feels when dissociating from their physical form. The oil pastels create lines in each disjointed room to carry…perspective lines crossing between each painting’s background. The three-dimensional figures emerging…clash with the large spaces of flat colors. This…creates vibrations fighting against one another, visually representing the physical dissociation I feel towards socially dictated identities.
Ultimately, I am exploring identity, and identity within the rules of western contemporary society…reject[ing] the bourgeois societal life plan. Through figuration and abstraction, it has always been my goal to find [that] ultimate connection/purpose.”
Karissa Klahr
“I paint still life images that use the changes in scale to create an interesting perspective. These simple objects are familiar and bring a sense of serenity, yet the massive size to them leaves them with an uneasy feeling. I want the viewers to indulge into the process of the different colors and the structures of the oil and acrylic paint. This work plays with the relationship between colors, details, and the light source, as well as the perspective….I draw inspiration from Ria Hills, traditional food art, and still life paintings from the minimalist era.”
