By Andrea Clarke
Elm Staff Writer
On April 22, Washington College art students of all levels and backgrounds displayed various art projects throughout Gibson Center for the Arts. The 2011 Senior Thesis Exhibition, “Liminal States-Evolving Boundaries,” is in Kohl Gallery and features the work of eleven graduating seniors. Assistant Professor of Art Monika Weiss curated this exhibition and was the thesis advisor for many of the seniors. Adjacent to the Kohl Gallery is the William Frank Visual Arts Hallway, where Visiting Assistant Professor of Art Ricky Sears curated selected works by Studio Art Students. Both exhibitions are presented by the Department of Art and Art History and will be kept open for viewers until May 12.
“‘Liminal States-Evolving Boundaries’ combines works [of students] exploring physical and conceptual states of passage and transition,” said Weiss.
In her thesis, senior Susanne Vaughn explores its mental and physical limits as it pertains to the experience of rowing.
“Being on the crew team I’ve spent a lot of my time in the past four years learning the technicalities of the sport and what it’s about. Since it’s a really big part of my life, I figured it would only be appropriate to incorporate it into my final piece of college art,” said Vaughn.
While senior theses are notorious for being oppressive and exasperating, senior Susanne Vaughn found hers to be “actually really enjoyable. The process of creating anything artistic is a really fascinating one. It’s a great feeling to look at your initial idea and the beginning stages and how they evolve and change to the final product.”
Vaughn also thinks the art of her fellow classmates “complemented each other and fit the overall theme of the exhibit very well.”
Professor Weiss agrees and said, “In the process of preparations, the [seniors] got intimate with everyone’s work. They were given the ability to show their art in context of other young artists.”
This privilege, along with showing in a private gallery, “is an award in itself,” said Weiss.
The eleven seniors were also given the rare opportunity have their pieces judged and reviewed by professionals, such as artist Randi Reiss-McCormack, who is a professor at Maryland Institute College of Art.
Reiss-McCormack, along with two other fellow jurors, was extremely impressed with the caliber of artwork presented in Kohl Gallery.
“They thought this was a B.F.A. exhibition, which is a huge compliment to our students,” said Weiss.
Senior Kristina Kelley was awarded the Lynette Neilsen Award by the jurors after each senior’s thesis was carefully reviewed.
The Lynette Nielson Memorial Art Award is created to acknowledge excellence in art and continues to be awarded annually to deserving WC students. The award acknowledges not only excellence in thesis work, but also the student’s entire portfolio/art career at WC.
Freshman artist Sarah Roy was not surprised that such an honor was bestowed upon our seniors.
“I was impressed by the scale and depth of several of the senior theses and unique approaches taken to tread a wide field of meaning,” said Roy. Four pieces of her art are featured in the studio art exhibition, which she thought “came together very nicely. There was an interesting juxtaposition of themes, media, and technique, with eloquent and evocative ideas.”
She also said “I hope people attending the exhibition leave with a sense of the importance of art: the inquiries and self-reflection only capable through the abstraction of the visual. The arts have a tendency to be overlooked in the scope of seriously regarded professions, when in fact there is little that’s more serious.”
Indeed, Weiss thinks that in art, “instead of using words, you use work to communicate something. It’s important in the 21st century where artists are expected to be thinking beings.”
She hopes that visitors to the gallery and visual arts hallway will “witness and engage in dialogue with the work.” So far Weiss has seen this in many of student viewers and finds their curiosity “[refreshing to see] and very interesting.”
Senior ceramics student Emmy Landskroener hopes students will find the exhibition to be more than just a display of various talents.
“Art to me is an expression of truth and the search for truth in emotion and reality, and though I would not really consider myself much of a visual artist, I think that all art, whether visual, musical, dramatic or otherwise is an attempt to harness that. I think it’s also a really great outlet for stress.”
Come see the intriguing works of students and leave understanding how, as Roy said, “[Art] is rather like a pair of glasses: without it, the subtle nature of the real world would be an indiscriminate blur.”
May 6, 2011
Volume LXXXI Issue 25