Senior Julia Andalora sold her eclectic metal sculpture, “Rise From,” to Geneseo, and it is now perched in the College Union Lobby.Andalora’s artist statement sums up the inspiration behind the industrial sculpture: “It is during the darkest times that we find our true friends, and learn the most about ourselves. We learn to grow, to overcome. From the darkness comes the light, from the ashes; we rise.” The figure stands with what looks like chainsaw blades serving as its base and its arms out to the side, looking straight ahead.
“Each design represents a person who was there for me, an idea that shaped how I think or the abstract factors that influence life without notice,” Andalora said.
“Rise From” is not her only piece to be featured on campus. “War,” the roughly 8-foot-tall winged demon oversees the Brodie Hall sculpture garden. According to Andalora’s website, she is “the first student artist to put a piece in the sculpture garden” at Geneseo.
For Andalora, parting with her artwork has not been easy.
“I tend to get overly attached to each sculpture I make. I literally bring it into this world and steel especially … comes out hot,” she said.
She isn’t limited to the world of metal and steel, though. Andalora has also sold handcrafted stuffed animals online in the past. She also sells work at various art shows, but the profit isn’t her focus. Rather she said she prefers gaining experience from selling work, adding that, “Once you focus on making money, it can stop being fun.”
Andalora, biology-turned-English major, used her roots in science to an overarching theme of anatomy in her work.
“English majors spend all their time finding meaning in books and poems and things. Artists find meaning in art,” she said. “It’s just a different visual media that you’re interpreting. Something with art and literature is that everyone can interpret it any way they want.”
Andalora intends to apply to sculpture programs and receive a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Her artwork will be featured in an exhibition titled “Deconstructing War” in the Bridge Gallery in Brodie Hall starting on Oct. 2.
“I have gotten a lot of encouragement from art teachers here,” she said. “I get to spend my last year with the art program − go down with the sinking ship.”