Thesis exhibitions from 13 of Geneseo's senior studio art majors are on display at the three art galleries across campus.
Alyssa D'Anna, Katrina Fierle, Yuki Kawae, Lauren Recny, Heather Kinglsey, and Steve Volloon display in the Lederer GalleryMonday - Thursday 12:30 - 3:30 p.m.Friday - Saturday 12:30 - 5:30 p.m.
The exhibitions span a range of media and subject matter; each student focused on material that reflected his or her artistry. Many were inspired by nature and the human figure, honing in on different aspects and means of expression.
For Abby Mayer, this meant creating an interactive exhibit of manipulated photography, asking viewers to title each photomontage themselves and pin their thoughts beside the piece. "With this exhibition, I seek to create a visual dialogue in which one's art viewing experience can inform another's," she explained in her artist statement.
Jim Hearne, Abby Mayer and Nick Joneson display in the Bridge GalleryMonday - Friday 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.Saturday - Sunday 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Nick Jones' graphite drawings of detailed and abstract figures portray the feelings that accompany the decision-making process, such as the one he used to become a studio art major. "I experienced doubt, confusion, and regret - emotions which I wish to convey in this body of figurative work," he wrote in his artist statement.
Steve Vollo works in a very different style, creating stunningly realistic, near-life-size oil paintings and drawings of portraits and figures. In his artist statement, he explained that he never works off of photographs: "My work is about returning to an abandoned tradition, but more importantly, it is about a return to nature and the honesty of reliance on perception."
Lauren Recny's sterling silver jewelry is highly symbolic of the female figure and allows the body to be both the subject and the canvas for her work. Each of her pieces is accompanied by a graphite drawing representative of the figure. "I aim to uncover the organic nature of the human form by emphasizing fluid curves and the smooth lines of the body," she wrote in her artist statement.
Katrina Fierle presents a series of watercolor portraits in which she captures "clichés" of people close to her. "Personality speaks, I simply try to capture it," Fierle wrote, which speaks to how her subjects' features remain accurate, yet she expresses more than what one would see in a photograph alone.
Jen Tayne, Paige Dorsey, Megan Cortese and Marissa Hermanon display in the Kinetic GalleryMonday - Thursday 12 - 8 p.m.Friday 12 - 5 p.m.Saturday 1 - 3 p.m.
Megan Cortese also focuses on the figure in her watercolors, expressing the dynamics of relationships in an autobiographical series. Each painting is accompanied by a beautifully written passage mirroring the emotion. Even her medium is symbolic of relationships: "With watercolor, once you add something to the paper it is most likely permanent, unable to be removed, only fixed by progressing forwards," she wrote in her artist statement.
Heather Kingsley's ceramic sculptures are autobiographical as well, serving as a form of therapy by bringing life's struggles to a physical form where they can be dealt with. Her work is full of striking details, illustrating "demons" such as cancer and broken relationships. As she wrote in her artist statement, "To me this show is more than merely art, it is a journey."
The creation of art functioned as a form of therapy for Jen Tayne as well. Her pencil drawings are an emotional outpouring following the death of her horse and center around the Psalm, "And I say, 'Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest; yes, I would wander far away; I would lodge in the wilderness; I would hurry to find a shelter from the raging wind and tempest.'"
Marissa Herman's photographic reconstructions blur the boundaries between the real and the unreal. By combining multiple images of reality, she creates something entirely new. In her artist statement, she described the images as representative of "a world that is unfamiliar and yet, oddly familiar at the same time."
Paige Dorsey takes a more traditional approach in her watercolor landscapes and focuses on broad scenes as well as close-ups of tiny, oft-overlooked details. "By painting these varying aspects of landscape, trees and flowers, I recreate my own experience with nature," she explained in her artist statement.
Jim Hearne was influenced by the Greek classical elements and Aristotle's belief in a struggle between "life" and "anti-life." Each of his large-scale digital illustrations, "Fire," "Earth," "Water" and "Air/Void," incorporate a figure portraying an emotion connected to that particular element and echoed by that panel's color scheme.
Yuki Kawae shows a large-scale, 3-D sculpture inspired by Japanese artwork. Viewers can pass between the panels of his trellis-like structure and see that, through experimentation, he reaches a balance between organic medium and human creation. As he explained in his artist statement, "I was able to reconnect with my ethnicity and the ethos of Japan, which inform every movement of my artwork."
Finally, Alyssa D'Anna's work is highly experimental and energetic, bursting with vibrant color and non-traditional strokes. Each painting in the series is titled in a manner that sends the imagination reeling. "My artwork celebrated sputters of inspiration and the energy of the accident," D'Anna wrote.