Student artists reveal meaningful work at exhibition
Emma Clixby, BFA spatial arts major, tries to bring awareness with her exhibit “Consumed.” Featuring a dining room with a sculpted food and plates, Clixby focuses on consumerism in America.
Paintings, photographs and five-foot sculptures were displayed on the third floor gallery of the Fine Arts Center.
Sixteen graduating seniors spent 13 weeks getting their exhibits ready, perfecting the tiniest of details and presenting a personal message.
Part of NKU’s Celebration of Student Research and Creativity, the BFA Art Exhibition I began April 7 and will continue until the 15. The BFA Art Exhibition II will run from April 21-29.
Serving as the Gallery Director for 23 years, David Knight says it’s a great way to see what the visual arts department’s top students have accomplished over a semester.
Because the seniors have spent their college years intensively training in all the areas of the fine arts department, they are able to design an exhibit that includes a part of who they are.
“They’ve been working extremely hard since week one, in order to have a successful exhibit,” Knight said. “They’re hoping to tell people a little bit about their lives and make connections.”
Knight teaches a Senior Exhibit course, which prepares the seniors for the grand opening of the gallery. The artists propose what they’re going to be displaying, present a written diagram of the piece, design their own invite card and evite, plan their reception and install all their work for the exhibit.
“Each student has a unique, different approach to art,” Knight said. “They’re all very specific and deeply personal about what their piece is about. Some are showing things they’ve never presented before. For the department, we get to see the successes of our students and see what they’re working towards.”
For Lindsay McCarty, BFA applied photography major, capturing moments has always been something she has known she was going to pursue. After taking a film photography class in high school, McCarty was hooked.
“I was one of those lucky people when I was in high school that knew what they wanted to do; I wanted to be a photographer,” McCarty said. “I was always terrified that I wouldn’t be able to make a living out of it, though, but when I came to Northern I took gen-eds the first year and didn’t want to do anything else. I just thought I can make it work because it’s what I love.”
McCarty presented her piece “Resilience” is a series of self-portraits featuring a variety of life-size nests in which McCarty poses, lying flat or curled up in.
After being diagnosed with depression a year ago, she is hoping her piece will connect with the audience and show the different stages of the disorder.
“My condition started off kind of rough but as I started to get better my photographs did the same thing, McCarty said. “They got stronger as I got stronger. I know a lot of people who have anxiety or other forms of it. So I’m hoping my piece will reach out to them and show them a sense of strength.”
Emma Clixby, BFA spatial arts major, tries to bring awareness with her exhibit “Consumed.” Featuring a dining room with a sculpted table and plates, Clixby focuses on consumerism in America.
All of the props like the chairs displayed in the dining room are ‘junk’ items. Clixby either bought them from Goodwill for under $5 or found them lying around her house and her parents. However, her favorite parts from her exhibit are the jello meals.
“America’s consumption is over abundant and so much waste comes out of it,” Clixby said. “I’ve been using gummy candy as a medium for the jello because it’s a symbol of when American society shifted from homemade, down-to-earth products to total artificiality. Jello is bright, loud and gross so I think it’s the perfect medium for it.”
Clixby found her creativity and interest in sculptures after taking a ceramics course during her senior year of high school.
“That was it,” Clixby said. “After that class, I was like ‘this is it, this is what I’m meant to do.’ Then I saw the ceramics and sculpture building on campus and went home and cried to my dad. I was like ‘this is where I belong, everyone dresses like me, everyone looks like me, we all like the same food.’ I kind of just found it and thought this is where I want to stay.”
As a studio visual artist, Knight said exhibiting is something these seniors are going to be doing a lot of and is extremely important for their future.
“It gives them those life skills they’re going to need in the artistic world,” Knight said. “They all have a unique, different path and we can’t wait to see where they’re headed.”
Seniors Art Exhibition I includes:
Lindsay McCarty, BFA Applied Photography- “Resilience: A BFA Photography Exhibition”
Emma Clixby, BFA Spatial Arts- “Consumed”
Ashley Fischesser, Studio Arts Applied Photography- “Sentiment”
Evan Sgouris, BFA Applied Photography- “What are you afraid of? A photographic exhibition.”
Lauryn Jones, BFA Sculpture- “Specimen”
Adam Schmidt, BFA Art Education/ BA Sculpture- “/ˈinflo͝oənsd/”
Taylor Daniels, BFA Photography- “Ode to Romanticism”
Randall Godawa, BFA Drawing- “Corrupt/Construct, (Working Title) BFA Exhibition”
Senior Art Exhibition II includes:
Kara Bischoff, BFA Printmaking- “The Fears are paper crows: A BFA Art exhibition”
Havalyn Grace, BFA Sculpture- “Deliverance”
Tyler Gray, BFA Sculpture- “Abandonment of Reason”
Sarah Kendall, Fine Arts- “Material Girl: A Senior Exhibition”
Jessica Martin, BFA Spatial Arts- “Suffocated”
Jack Seiter, BFA Painting- “Brick”
Ashley Niece, Integrative Studies- “The Importance of Animals in Japanese Folklore”
