On Saturday, March 30, the first of two Art and Design Senior Seminar shows known as the Meraki Exhibition took place in the SXU Gallery.
Even though the reception has passed, those interested can still come and witness the show from April 1 through April 17. The word “Meraki” is used by modern Greeks to describe a person leaving a piece of themselves like soul, creativity, or love in their work. Artists tend to do this with their work, as their passion is what fuels this process. There are seven artists that have their work being displayed in the SXU Gallery which includes Kate Bontrager, Karisa Brake, Bianca Santoyo, Deara Gilliam, Boggarht Alvarez, Laura Sullivan, and Anthony Rigoni.
Kate Bontrager is displaying her artwork which consists of a set up with multiple boxes. Each box has a different perspective and is multi layered. The topic is school shootings and is titled “Enough”. At the beginning of her artist statement Bontrager stated, “In 2018 there were 38 school shootings, eighteen of which occurred before Valentines Day. Since the Columbine Shooting in 1999 there have been 301 deaths due to school shootings. For my thesis I have imaged and created individual boxed dioramas representing a perspective involved in a school shooting.”
The different viewpoints are taken from that of the shooter, a child, a teacher, a law enforcement officer, and a bulletin board showing the shooters plans. In the middle of the display there are 301 empty shell casings on the floor representing the 301 people that have passed away due to a school shooting.
Her artist statement continued with, “By freezing particular scenes, it gives one the opportunity to think about what happened before and after this event occurred. By putting the observer in the viewpoint of someone affected by school shootings, I hope to connect people emotionally to the artwork and I want everyone who sees my work to understand that enough is enough.”
Karisa Brake is displaying her paintings that are explorations of otherworldly environments. Her paintings consist of animals that wouldn’t normally adapt in that certain environment, where as some feature less or no creatures, and where environments become the prominent emphasis in the abnormal eco systems.
When talking with a student observing the paintings described them as, “Magical and mystical.” The beginning of Brake’s artist statement started with, “I have depicted stages of animal and insect extinction on our planet in my series of acrylic paintings. Some of the imaged landscapes contain animals while others are virtually void of any signs of life.”
These paintings speak on a deeper level than just being aesthetically pleasing for the viewer. They were made to call attention to the sensitivity the planet is in.
Her artist statement ended with, “With the intentional use of immersive color palettes and an abnormal arrangement of animals, I want to portray creatures in a way that conveys their sense of confusion, uncertainty and discomposure.”
Bianca Santoyo has constructed an installation titled the “Amorphous bodies of Self Perception” which addresses the physical and the spiritual spaces that everyone harbors within themselves. Her mediums in this installation are burlap, newspaper, beeswax, angel hair, and tea/ fairy lights.
In Santoyo’s artist statement she explains how, “The rawness of the Burlap Material juxtaposes the delicacy of the Angel Hair that spews out of the harsh encasing. The duality of the entities are strikingly divergent causing them to seem to separate when in fact they are living simultaneously a part of one another.”
The installation also organically references the physical; a butterfly cocoon or a milkweed plant. Even though it embodies physical aspects it also embodies multiple expressions of emotional states. All of this in an essence signifies a re-birth.
Deara Gilliam is a photographer and is highlighting and empowering the insecurities of the models and capturing their stories.
“As an artist, I’ve always enjoyed photography and capturing portraits to make people feel good about themselves. My senior seminar thesis focuses on overcoming self criticism and society’s viewpoint to promote positive attitudes towards one’s own body. The plain black background is there to put each model in a blank space where nothing else matters but them,” stated Gilliam in her artist statement.
The titles of the photos are “Embrace the BrEaST”, “My Sanctuary”, “Racing Stripes”, and “The Skin I’m In” where Gilliam photographed herself.
Boggarht Alvarez crafted heavily illustration based graphic design posters. He wanted to capture the essence of listening to these groups.
His artist statements begins with, “Music, like any other creative outlet, gives its performers the ability to showcase their identity, and offers its performers the ability to create a unique experience.”
Alvarez creates these posters with the intent of having them feel “other-worldly” due to how music gives everyone a very different experience.
Laura Sullivan is a book maker, and made a series of books that explore and explain nutrition to children. She brings to light how nutrition is not emphasized in the American school system as it is in other cultures and countries.
“My Senior Seminar thesis project is a contemporary artist’s book to be used as a visual tool to educate children about nutrition,” began Sullivan’s artist’s statement.
She feels it is necessary to educate children about how important healthy eating is as early and possible. These books would be a great teaching aid to use in an elementary school setting.
Anthony Rigoni’s work that is being displayed is graphic design based comics that include light hearted cartoons but highlight heavy political context.
His project is called Tony Yorkie Silky and the Frazier Kids. In his artist statement Rigoni states how, “Each comic follows the lives of Tony Silky and his family as they participate in today’s society. My objective is to raise awareness of today’s social issues…”
SXU students are encouraged to go support and see these creative works by their peers while they are being displayed. Words only go so far when describing these installations.
The reception for second exhibition is on Saturday, April 27, from 3 through 5:30 pm in the SXU Gallery and the show runs April 22 through May 8.
Kylee Rus
News Reporter