Senior art shows open Dec. 8
Three graduating studio art majors will display their senior thesis shows on Dec. 6–15, exhibiting a variety of art forms including short film, photographs, chalk pastels, painting, sculpture, installation, and mixed media.
An opening reception will be held from 2–4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8, in the Peter Paul Luce Gallery in McWethy Hall. Luce Gallery is open Monday–Friday 9 a.m.–4 pm, and Sunday 2–4 p.m.
Each artist’s show presents a culmination of the semester’s work, with a variety of media and subjects displayed throughout the pieces. The shows are free and open to the public.
All Cornell senior studio art majors receive their own studio spaces and prepare exhibitions 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.
Alyssa Alaiafune
The “Recollection of Idols and Oddities” is a mixed media installation inviting the audience to immerse themselves in the whimsical world of the artist’s past and its fruition up to now. Recollection takes form in typical means of memory such as photographs and love letters, but also unexpected ones such as tarot cards and the artist’s dreams. Alaiafune took inspiration from the popular stories of “Alice in Wonderland” and “The Wizard of Oz.” The young female heroines are tasked with navigating through dream-like worlds that have been a means of self-discovery all along. Ultimately, the artist encourages the audience to look inward on their past and to find the silver lining of hope that there is more that comes after it.
Piper Leeson
Leeson’s show is a bright, fun, and imaginative collection of feminine portraits. Utilizing vibrant colors with recognizable proportions, Leeson hopes to return to the whimsy of girlhood as well as represent the maturity she has now; feminine people are often expected to grow up too fast, and Leeson aims to give herself and her subjects a chance to be girls again while also illustrating the women they have grown into. Each portrait is made with chalk pastels on black paper, with the exception of one acrylic painting on canvas.
Sidney Scout Raffenaud
The subject matter Raffenaud is focusing on is the feminine experience. Her goal for this exhibition was to create a space centered on femininity in which the voices and experiences of female-presenting individuals are the primary focus. “The Vigilance of Femininity” is the title of the show because it is imperative for women or feminine-presenting individuals not only to remain vigilant against the dangers they face, specifically from men, but also to remain aware and mindful of the stereotypes, expectations, and roles they are expected to play.
