Attendees at the “Spring 2018 Senior Exhibition” check out the artwork that senior artists put on display. Jennifer Dettwiller/The Lion’s Roar

The Contemporary Art Gallery hosted the “Spring 2018 Senior Exhibition” for the department of visual art and design.

Senior art major Sherman Mushatt described the importance of his pieces for the show.

Mushatt said, “I wanted the main focus of my illustration to capture the design of fashion magazines, these old magazines, but put black people in it just to relate it back to my people because the history of it has never been centered around my people, and that’s pretty much the organization of my entire wall. Even the collage pieces are centered around black people’s series called ‘Run.’ It’s just based off the way America is set up now with everyday black men are dying, and these images capture like a feeling of running away from society and everything that entails. That’s why there is a running figure in every one of them.”

Mushatt’s plans after graduation are to continue to freelance and go to interviews he has lined up to further his career in graphic design. Mushatt explained his shock at how people were reacting to his display.

“So far, great, I’m surprised,” said Mushatt. “I’ve never displayed these artworks, and I was kind of nervous about displaying them, but people have accepted it very well, and I’m very proud of it.”

Senior art major Kayla Morgan discussed the style and inspiration of her artistry that people viewed at the exhibition. 

“Mostly illustration, I would say, and like bold bright colors of graphic design is the medium that I’m working with,” said Morgan. “Music mostly, like a lot of illustrations are of skeletons and zombies and aliens, but they’re all presented in a different way than you would normally see. So, I did a skeleton of Johnny Cash, and I just wanted to take, you know, a skeleton, something that is usually scary or something that people don’t usually think as like art and change it into something else, and I did the same thing with the alien and the zombie.” 

Students from around campus were welcomed with no cost to view the exhibition. Sophomore communication major Claire Cuccia shared her feelings towards the art at the show. 

“I’m not sure if I could pick one favorite thing that I’ve seen, but I just appreciate the uniqueness of every piece and of every section that is around this room,” said Cuccia. “It has a different theme and a different look.”

Senior art major Alexandra Bond discussed where her inspiration came from for her pieces displayed.

Bond said, “Tonight, I’m actually doing an installation piece that was inspired by mental illness and anxiety specifically and the thought of time as an entity that cannot be controlled and thinking about using time to open the viewers’ eyes to the knowledge that there’s some things that they cannot control, and they need to reconcile themselves to that rather than having anxiety about it.”

As a worker of CAG and an artist in the spring exhibition, Bond described the process of setting up for the exhibiton.

“It’s always really hectic because we have a lot of different people coming in,” said Bond. “We have a lot of people. Some people have never hung any work in their lives, and the seniors are required to hang their own work for the show. So, we have to help them hang the work, and it’s always really crazy. We were doing stuff until the last second. I was here until one in the morning last night. There was some guy who was hanging something at 4:30. So, it’s always really hectic, but it teaches everyone a lot.”

The “Spring 2018 Senior Exhibition” is will be on display in CAG until May 12.