Alejandra Aguilar
Assistant Editor
An eclectic mix of vibrant sculpture and paintings filled the Harris Gallery as nine students showcased their senior projects.
Each student’s project was themed and personal.
Parents, professors and fellow students studied the exhibits carefully.
“I’m so thrilled with the high quality of work,” said Ruth Trotter, professor of art, who advised the nine seniors this fall. “Usually the students do well but this was a particularly strong year.”
One of the sculptures, created by Yaning Bu, arts design student, was a Chinese dragon. The dragon was made entirely out of Chinese letters. Bu formed the head of the dragon with ancient letters, which turned into modern letters as it reached the tail of the dragon.
“I wanted to show the progress of the Chinese culture,” Bu said. “I’m proud that I was able to convey the evolution of Chinese letters.”
Other sculptures also had a combination of sculpture and paint. “Postmortem,” by Brianna Gilberto-Herman, was a canvas with different color strokes of paint. However, the red strokes stood out the most. Attached to it was a human-like figure with white drapes on it. Squared fabrics with red paint splattered on them were attached to wires as if they were flying off the human like sculpture.
“I don’t see myself just as a painter or sculptor, so I wanted to incorporate both,” Gilberto-Herman said. “ My exhibit is supposed to have the eeriness of life and death.”
Some of the projects that hung on the wall included those of Messina Zurbuch, Danielle Zamora, Nicole Tuning, Jake Simpson and others. Zurbuch’s display featured many tree branches weaved into each other. Attached to each of the sides were windows.
“Most of these people, I’ve known for four years. I saw them unsure, figuring things out, and trying to find their direction,” Keith Lord, professor of art, said. “It’s gratifying to see this level of work. It’s sophisticated and I’m impressed.”
Other paintings celebrated typography. Elegant black strokes explored letter forms after Tuning developed an interest in black letter calligraphy and abstraction.
Simpson was the only student with a photography project – a panorama like photograph of the ocean displayed very large. It hung up high and beneath the photo were many shots of a pelican floating above the sea. Each photograph captured different seconds. Simpson said his idea came from his love for the outdoors.
“The variety of the types of art people have come up with is very interesting to me,” Louie Zamora, parent and attendee, said.
Taylor Tracy who attended the event was drawn to the creativity of the exhibits.
“I’ve never seen projects put together this way,” Tracy said. “It’s great to see the creativity of young people.” The exhibit will continue to be on display through Dec. 11 at the Harris Gallery.
Alejandra Aguilar can be reached at alejandra.aguilar@laverne.edu.
