By Faith Jarrell
Student Life Editor
From Thursday, March 21 to Saturday, April 6, the Kohl Gallery opened its annual “100 Proof” exhibition, which included artwork sent in by Washington College students.
According to an email sent out by the interim Kohl Gallery director Jason Patterson, “This year’s exhibit is open to all mediums and themes, and all Washington College students from all majors are encouraged to apply.”
Adjunct art professor Kathie Halfin was a juror for the exhibition, curating student pieces and choosing which were shown. Halfin is an international artist, who is currently based in New York, and also teaching a class at WC about sustainable art making. Although there was no specific theme for this year’s exhibit, Halfin wanted to choose pieces that explored the artist’s “self-discovery.”
“[Self-discovery is] exactly what the students, who are about 18, 19, 20 years old, that’s what you deal with. You ask yourself all these very essential and important questions. Who you are and who do you want to be? What are your next steps in life?” Halfin said. “That’s what I kept in mind when looking at the student’s work. This is the first time when you are facing that question seriously….you have to ask this question to yourself and by yourself. That’s a very important, special time for students.”
As for how the process of curating worked, Halfin received the artwork from students and chose pieces she believed reflected these ideas of self-discovery. Along with that, Halfin discussed her consideration of “different mediums.”
“I wanted to include music and poetry, which was part of the exhibition…The show might include several interdisciplinary approaches and that was my personal approach that I am coming with,” Halfin said. “I am an interdisciplinary artist. I was also considering the different identities of students so everyone will have representation as well.”
The exhibition included work from senior Francesca Jacobs, juniors Ziggy Angelos, Morgan Carlson, Elm Lifestyle editor Riley Dauber, Kami Lentzsch, David Londres, Xavier Smalls, and Justus Williams sophomores Roselyn Garcia-Mendoza, Erin Helgerman, and Cailyn Couture, and freshman Siobhan Luckey and Kit Yim.
Carlson’s artwork, titled “Was it a Dream?” was a collage made from a variety of media, including tea bags, cut-outs from vintage Playboy magazines, and pictures from antique bird books.
“It’s kind of a piece that really looks at sexuality and its dream-like state. And I wanted it to be something that could be interpreted in a lot of different ways,” Carlson said. “I like to see my piece as something that stands with everyone else’s student work and I want people to be inspired by what all of us do to create one really awesome exhibit.”
While the 100 Proof exhibition is gone from the Kohl Gallery now, it is never too early for students to work on artwork to submit in future year’s student exhibitions..
Photo courtesy of Morgan Carlson
Photo Caption: Junior Morgan Carlson’s collage from the exhibition, titled “Was it a Dream?” features themes of surrealism and sexuality.