Seniors communicate magic, meaning via exhibition of art
The Senior Art Exhibition in the galleries of Runyan Center and Lilly Library displays artwork diverse both in meaning and medium, after senior art majors developed unique projects for others to scrutinize and admire.
Each art major’s display serves as a comprehensive gauge of experiences both at Earlham and beyond it. For senior Sydney Sogol, who exhibited contemporary saddle blankets, the line between fashion and function is one that deserves a five-page paper response, yet managed an effortless retort.
“I am a weaver. The majority of my work is functional,” Sogol said.
For her, sources of inspiration have been plenty and in range, from Nazca lines to Harry Potter, and she plans to have the blankets used for what they were made for in the first place, as saddle blankets.
On the walls of Lilly’s Ronald Gallery is senior Mia Herring’s work. Her pieces took on the form of a complex critical literary theory paper, with paint and a piece of canvas as her primary communicators. Herring describes her series of three pieces as referencing modernist works through a feminist lens.
Not only is the concept behind her work a handful — some of the challenges Herring came across was the sheer size of her work and figuring out its composition, with each canvas measuring 8 feet by 6 feet.
Upon being asked what she would do with her pieces if they were not sold during the exhibition, Herring said, “I don’t really think about that. I know that I need to make stuff and making it is what is important to me.”
Back in Runyan Center’s Leeds Gallery, senior Laura Meilman’s various pieces are all strung together by one common idea: magical realist literature, which has always appealed to Meilman.
“I loved the imagery that they put in books,” Meilman said.
Her pieces intermingle realistic landscapes with some elements of an otherworldly nature. In one of her pieces, done on a wood panel, the Heart is covered in snow, with a vibrant sunset in the distance contrasting the cool foreground. On the sidewalk, penguins waddle through puddles.
“I liked the idea of likening penguins to students, because we are similar in some ways,” she said.
If all of her pieces are not sold during the exhibition, Meilman will be taking them home in Ithaca, N.Y., and have them displayed in local coffee shops.
As for a career in the arts, Meilman has taken a job as an art and crafts coordinator at a summer camp.
The Exhibition will be on until graduation. Information on the price and artists are available in both Leeds and Ronald Gallery. If any artwork is purchased, nothing can be removed from the gallery until May 8.
If you are interested, or have any questions regarding the artists or their work you can contact the Fine Arts office.
Photos by Alex Pianetta
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