Works from Graduating Seniors in the field of Studio Art
Mara Alvarado | Patrick Boppel | Gina Figliozzi | Priscilla Frasier | Abigail Klein | Jessica Levasseur | Michele Marotta | Megan O’Donnell | Dana Roberts |
Alvarado’s Statement of Work – The Bodies of the Less Obvious
“I have always been intrigued by humanity, appreciating what makes someone who they are. From afar I find people beautiful, liking to see the moment when people are being their most authentic selves, revealing their differences. Yet in the same sense I can never see myself in the same beautiful light. While I see others’ flaws as marks of individuality I struggle to see that in myself, struggling with body image and function. While afar I love to view humanity, up close I struggle to relate and appreciate. My works look to explore the juxtapositions of how I view humanity, both mine and others, through negative and positive form. Be it taking a material to cover the body or creating the body from a different material, I use my work to explore myself on a deeper level, while also allowing a greater audience to make their own connections within the work.”
Boppel’s Statement of Work – Quarantined at the Farm
Quarantined at the Farm reflects my experience during the Coronavirus Pandemic. The series is quiet and timeless. It’s about taking your time and “stopping to smell the roses”…there is no rush. It depicts a world forgotten with the hustle and bustle of modern life. However, during times of crisis like now, this world is most true.”
“As an artist, I challenge myself to push my boundaries while also remaining true to who I am; my core values, instincts, and tastes. Every time I start a work of art, I am attempting to express a rawness; a deep human component within me that can connect with the audience.
Figliozzi’s Statement of Work
“My work stems from the inspiration to create nostalgic pieces that are reminiscent of bedtime stories and childhood wonder. The stories come in the form of open-ended narratives, open for interpretation. The materials of tooling foil and tempera paint are used to create antique-like and three-dimensional works through the process of distressing and tempera enameling. The circular composition allow the works to become small portals for viewers to explore. By immersing oneself into the pieces, the viewer will be able to leave reality behind—even if it is just for a fleeting moment.”
Jessica Levasseur – Stop Motion Video
» HAPPY ENDINGS
Frazier’s Statement of Work
“My senior studio project consists of paintings and stop-motion shorts. I want to combine my love of painting and animation and use them to make stories. The process of stop-motion animation is time consuming, but I want to use this form of art making and make it popular again. The first half will show how some stories don’t have happy endings. Conversely, the second half reveals the alternative happy ending to the same unhappy story that was previously seen. I want to use these kinds of stories for my shorts because I have always had a love of “happily ever afters”, and I want to change the normal view of stories while still maintaining the heritage of historic films. My goal for my stories is to make people take a minute and think about how endings may not always be what you expect.”
Klein’s Statement of Work
“My art illustrates unique yet common subjects that are prevalent in society, but often overlooked. I attempt to explore a realm of imagery that is raw and delves into a world of over exaggerated reality combined with disproportionate attempts in creation, capturing an exaggeration of how I perceive objects to be. Challenging the norm of observation can ultimately alter the overall appreciation of how common subjects are interpreted. Typically, the forms I create are recognizable and seem to be floating in an imaginary world manipulated to display a new perspective through my eyes. My technique is exploratory, as throughout the entire process, I become overcome with ideas that inspire more creation as well as challenging me to step out of the box. Art most definitely encourages me to question social norms, while valuing pure forms in a different light.”
Levasseur’s Statement of Work – Pottery Made, *Pottery Imagined
“Using clay and the potter’s wheel, I create utilitarian works including plates, teapots, mugs, planters, vases, etc. Producing functional pottery means making things that people can use and enjoy in their everyday lives. I make these functional pots because it gives me an extra sense of enjoyment using something every day that I made for myself. *Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, my ceramic work was put on hold, leaving me to finish my senior work with drawings. I plan to pursue a career in Art Therapy and will use the art of ceramics to help individuals grow in their treatment, as well as make something for themselves that will remind them that they are more than their disability.”
Marotta’s Statement of Work
“I create agate-ware ceramic pieces. My concept plays on the duality of beauty versus damage. The goal is to portray beautifully colored pieces with some form of damage to the viewer. Each of these pieces is crafted with aesthetically pleasing colors, mixed with a streak of black. I am then deconstructing these forms to show what happens when the flaw consumes the form. Technique is important to my work. I am creating these pieces by coloring the clay and exploring how they interact when thrown on the wheel into a full form. I then am progressively deconstructing and painting each to further signify how damage can affect something that was once beautiful.
I am using color and form to display what happens when the small damages are dismissed and avoided. I want to show viewers that societal stigmas surrounding “damage” can be beautiful, but instead when it is ignored it progresses into something that is no longer recognizable. When you free yourself from stigma and fear, the beauty can be allowed to flourish but without that all that will be left is a deconstructed form.”
O’Donnell’s Statement of Work
“It takes a village to raise a child. Treat the custodian the same as the CEO. Two phrases I have lived and been inspired by. I have always pushed to see the world differently. Respect everyone and treat everyone kindly. I have made a lot of friends on campus doing this. It is time to pay it back to them and highlight their beautiful faces. Iconic people being icons.”
Roberts’s Statement of Work
“I am creating kinetic art drawings using ink and charcoal. By using not only my hands but my feet I have created different drawings that imply the movements I translated onto paper.
The subjects that influenced me to create this body of work is movement. Movements can be simple, complex or even chaotic. Movement, in regard to the body, has always been of interest to me ever since I was little. The way the spine and hips and arms move and respond to one another as a system is another kind of elegance. There is a certain type of unexplainable beauty that comes from for example a ballerina arching and elongating their neck. The way a dancer maneuvers their body to create different and interesting movements is what I kept in mind while throwing and painting these vessels.
My Art comes from a place of very intense feeling. Much like artists that are so wildly famous today for being the eccentric poets they are. I relate to the artists of the past because they were all trying to create pieces that evoked feeling. Something that demanded your attention. Something that yelled at you something that made you feel angry or loved. Something that speaks.
What I want people to understand from my work is that movement creates different feelings depending on the visual aesthetic. My goal is just for one second, for a viewer to look at my piece and essentially think about movement; different movements come from different thoughts and different emotions. My art will be like me, an open book in which there might not always be a definite answer or reason but will always display movement in the way I envision.”