Raleigh Hightower
Lifestyle Editor
rhightower@murraystate.edu
A second round of senior students pursuing their Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees from the Department of Art and Design have begun displaying their exhibitions in the Clara M. Eagle Gallery.
The reception for the latest BFA exhibitions was hosted on April 29 in the Clara M. Eagle Gallery. At the reception, artists gave presentations in which they discussed themselves and their exhibitions.
This round of exhibitions featured work from studio art majors with concentrations in painting, sculpture, ceramics and photography and graphic design majors.
Upon entering the University Galleries through the Mary Ed Mecoy Hall Gallery, visitors are greeted by scenes of nature in painting and graphic design emphasis, Rebecca Potts’, exhibit, “Proceed With Caution,” is on display. Potts’ exhibit explores nature and national parks through graphic design and oil painting.
Potts’ oil paintings depict people in various different scenes in nature. Her painting, “Reflection” features two figures walking single file along a wooded trail. In this scene, the figure in the back appears to be stationary and watching the other figure move down the trail.
Potts wrote in her artist statements that her paintings explore a dichotomous relationship between comfort and danger in nature.
“To show the tension between the comfort I feel in nature in relation to danger that exists, I place myself in paintings as a child and as an adult in situations where the feeling of lurking danger or vulnerability is present,” Potts wrote.
Potts’ design work aims to make viewers’ experience feelings of familiarity and comfort.
“The colors that I use in my graphic design work are warm, natural, and tonal colors that visually communicate feelings of familiarity and comfort,” Potts wrote.
Malcolm Fife, who has an emphasis in painting, printmaking and ceramics presented a show titled, “Consuming Fashions,” which presented commentary on fast fashion and consumption.
“We live lives that revolve around consumption and buying more than we need,” Fife wrote. “Fast fashion preys on our laziness and encourages our rather prodigal spending.”
Fife uses several self portrait paintings throughout his exhibit. Fife wrote on his blog, which is accessible by QR codes throughout his exhibit, that the self portraits are “more of a portrait of the clothing than it is of me.”
The composition featured in Fife’s self portraits was inspired by Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer and Irish artist Sir William Orpen, Fife wrote in his blog entries.
Fife urged in his artist statement that viewers take up better fashion practices for themselves.
“Wearing used and thrifted clothes can be a way to make a difference and an easy habit to acquire,” Fife wrote. “In my experience, the vintage clothing community is a safe and supportive place for people of all ethnicities, genders, and sexual orientations.”
Graphic design major Lauren Morgan also took up an activist role in her exhibit titled “Advocate.”
“The Advocate project is an awareness campaign that combines my graphic design education and skills with my passion for advocacy and awareness for cancer research,” Morgan wrote in her artist statement.
In her artist statement, Morgan wrote that her project specifically aims to educate viewers on discrepancies in treatment and funding of stage four breast cancer.
“The focal point of my show is four posters, which give a glance of the reality of metastatic breast cancer,” Morgan wrote. “In these posters, statistics of the disease are spread across the majority of the page, which are highlighted around the broad range of patients it affects.”
Another graphic design major, Lauren Powderly, created a basketball team named the “Kansas City Beasts.” Powderly used a color palette featuring shades of purple, orange and black.
“Sports design is marked by the ability to unite people behind a communal message,” Powderly wrote. “This project entwines the energy and unity of sports culture with the essence of clean design.”
Powderly’s exhibit features posters, clothing items and an Instagram account.
Studio art major Kate Huttunen’s exhibit, “Fun House” explored the intersectionality of race and gender.
“I am interested in conceptions of gender within the Black community, including the ways some roots trace back to our ancestors,” Huttenen wrote. “Having a mixed gender identity or not having a gender at all was more common in many African cultures before colonialism’s violent whitewashing and the heteronormnative pressures embedded within it.”
Sculpture and woodwork emphasis, Ash Eve McIntyre’s exhibit, “I Love You: I’m Glad I Exist,” included large sculptures of stuffed animals, paintings, ceramics and woodworks. McIntyre’s exhibit explores trauma and includes allusions to Greek mythology.
“Many of my works reference the Greek mythological stories, like those from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” in which characters often undergo a transformation into an object or animal after experiencing a traumatic event,” McIntyre wrote.
The final student featured in the second round of BFA exhibitions was photography emphasis, GraciLou Ackerman. Titled, “Industreality,” Ackerman’s exhibit explores buildings and structures and their relationships with memory.
“Days go by, rain comes and goes; buildings are built, occupied and abandoned,” Ackerman wrote in her artist statement. “Restoration and revitalization are a necessity to honor the enchantment that has once taken place.”
The second round of BFA exhibitions can be viewed on the sixth and seventh floors in the Price Doyle Fine Arts Building in the Clara M. Eagle Gallery. The exhibition will be on display until Friday, May 6