Southeastern alumna Caesandra Seawell provided wisdom and insight to the current generation of students, bringing with her hope for art majors and the sexually curious everywhere.
Seawell traveled from Buffalo, N.Y. to give her lecture last Thursday in the Contemporary Art Gallery. Her lecture was divided into two parts, the first meaning to encourage and offer advice to aspiring artists.
“The reality is, [after art school], you’re going to have to find a day job,” said Seawell. “You’re going to have a very specific set of skills that might not directly translate into some nine-to-five job that other people can understand on a resume. My hope that the students who were here get from this is that they are leaving with a pocketful of skills that they can translate into other jobs if they’re willing to extend their creativity.”
Seawell used examples from her own life to prove how creative talents can be channeled into a variety of jobs. After receiving her master’s degree, Seawell was hired as a logistics coordinator at a nonprofit green demolition company where she had plenty of opportunities to utilize her artistic talents by beautifying her neighborhood.
A sheet of paper was handed out to each student in attendance, which included words of wisdom for aspiring artists. Students received a condensed manual covering various topics including networking, finding motivation and making a living as an artist.
Among these nuggets of advice, Seawell suggested that students become aware of their artistic ancestors, or people that influence and inspire one’s work. She used her own artistic ancestors as an example, who influenced her ideas that led to The Kissing Museum, a project dedicated to preserving and examining the act of kissing.
“[I was interested in] that fleeting moment, a fleeting memory, and the fact that if you don’t vocalize it to somebody, it stays and dies with you,” said Seawell. “I wanted to find a way to get people to archive their kisses.”
Seawell has created multiple projects involved with kissing, including a display which presented images of lips and kisses under a microscope, treating them as something that could be studied scientifically.
The second part of her lecture discussed the lack of adequate sexual education in some high schools as well as exploring sexuality in adulthood. Seawell has taught sexual education classes for adults, encouraging her pupils to break out of their shells and become better lovers.
“With the material that I work with that deals with human sexuality, that’s something that I think is universal because all humans engage in it in some way or another whenever they’re ready,” said Seawell. “But there’s not permission in our society to treat sex as a legitimate study or as a legitimate pursuit. You can’t go to somebody and say ‘I want to learn how to be a good lover,’ and have them take you seriously.”
Students were given handouts to encourage dialogue about sexuality and to provide different perspectives on sex.
Seawell’s lecture was well received by the students in attendance.
“I was moved by it,” said Brittney White, a sophomore art education major. “I really don’t get moved easily by artwork. Every lecture I go to, I usually end up falling asleep. This was the first one I was actually focused on and wanted to interact with.”
For more information on Seawell and her work, go to her website at caesandra.com.