Senior art exhibitions open April 8
The first round of 2018 senior art shows features works by five studio art majors and includes painting, portrait work, and origami.
An opening reception for the displays will be held from 2–4 p.m. on April 8 in the Peter Paul Luce Gallery in McWethy Hall on the Cornell College campus. The shows will be on view from Sunday, April 8 through Wednesday, April 18.
Each artist’s show presents a culmination of the year’s work, with a large variety of media and subjects displayed throughout the pieces.
Georgia Gump ’18 performing as an entirely new character artist, Elliot Rodgers, is presenting her show “House Full of Mirrors: A Shocking Look into the Life of a Recluse.” As the artist, Rodgers presents a series of portraits, which depicts a recently-deceased hermit. The works in this exhibit also span a variety of mediums, including painting, pen and ink, textiles, and clay; and provide intriguing insight into the mind of one at peace with seclusion.
Katie Mintle ’18 has created a show that consists of a series of acrylic paintings depicting organic shapes suspended in a dreamlike universe. In their whimsical atmosphere, the boundaries of life are explored. Dualities of life such as spirituality and physicality, heaven and earth, and the conscious and the subconscious are addressed in Mintle’s paintings.
Sierra Nelson ’18 says her artwork is heavily influenced by the writings of Amanda Lovelace and the pop art, pop-up museum culture. Her new show, “The Middle,” combines the writing from Amanda Lovelace’s “The Princess Saves Herself In This One,” and photography, creating an atmosphere for the viewer to delve into a colorful and intimate self-reflection.
Jim Wehmeier ’18 spent the year exploring the iconography of the electric guitar. In his exhibit, he abstracts their function by integrating electric instruments into heavy furniture. The resulting installation evokes feelings of kitsch and elements of the surreal, recalling Dadaist work from artists such as Man Ray.
Laurel Whittingham ’18 has created artwork that is heavily based in the methods and materials of origami and is inspired by minimalist and installation artists such as Sol LeWitt, Tara Donovan, and Tony Smith. Her new show, “Transition Metal,” aims to lift origami from a craft to high art by using a limited color palette and clean, straight lines to create sculptural installation pieces.
The displays are free and open to the public. All Cornell senior studio art majors receive their own studio spaces and prepare exhibitions consisting of entirely fresh bodies of work in the mediums of their choice. They propose their exhibitions before the department faculty, mount the exhibitions, and advertise and defend their shows in front of the art and art history professors.
The second round of senior art shows takes place April 22–May 2.
