The final semester for any graduating student is a busy and stressful time, but for students of Southeastern’s art department the stresses of their last semester are a mandatory senior review and senior show. The gallery opening for this semester’s senior show was held in the Contemporary Art Gallery on Thursday, April 25 from 5 to 7 p.m.
Each graduating art student is given a wall to design and display the artwork they have created throughout their time at Southeastern. The gallery was filled with the graduating artists, fellow students and visiting family and friends.
“The review part is more stressful than putting up the show,” said Blake Kelley, graduating in graphic design. “You have to go before the department and ‘sell’ your show. That was harder for me to do than actually come up with the final design and put it all up.”
From photography and new media and animation to painting and sculpture, each art concentration was represented in the show. In the case of Leicester Mitchell, he was responsible for two separate walls. Mitchell double majored in photography and graphic design and therefore had to display two separate walls of work.
The artwork of sculpture major Avery Brentt was hard to ignore during the gallery opening. Rather than hanging on a wall, her work walked around the room in the form of full body costumes.
“Mine is a little different because I had to make my sculptures and then find people to fit the characters,” said Brentt. “My thesis is sort of about characterization, small details that we don’t realize, like how people carry themselves and a lot of information we don’t realize we’re picking up. I had to create the characters. I have three that are based on Native American trickster figures, and then I’ve got one that’s supposed to be the embodiment of malice.”
The preparation process for the senior show requires a lot of organization and hard work. In the end, most students find it to be a gratifying experience and appreciate the chance to share their work with the campus.
“It was the most stressful experience of my college career,” said Paul DeSilvey, graduating in graphic design. “I redid all of my projects and then after senior review they wanted me to do more projects. I’m happy with the way all of my work turned out. It feels amazing to be done. It feels like a giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders. If I was Atlas, I wouldn’t have to be holding the world anymore.”