The Allen Priebe Art Gallery held the reception for the 25th annual Student Honors Exhibition Feb. 6, and will showcase students’ artwork for two weeks.
The exhibit will stay up until Feb. 20, and will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 6-7:30 p.m. on Thursdays, and 2-4 p.m. on Saturdays at the Arts and Communication Center.
Each piece featured in the exhibit was voted on by fellow students who are part of the Student Art Gallery Board, serving as a great honor and testament to the talents of the 31 students featured in this annual event.
“I was so excited to be able to be a part of the honors exhibition,” senior Hannah Detert said. “It felt good to be recognized for something that I enjoyed so much and worked hard for.”
Another UWO senior, Carcin Woodland, was also grateful for the opportunity.
“[This] was something I have looked forward to being a part of for a long time, so I suppose I’m honored to be honored,” Woodland said.
Besides receiving praise and recognition from peers, students were able to showcase their hard work in their medium of choice regardless of their academic standing.
Some, including Detert, were able to use this as an opportunity to showcase new mediums they have found passion for.
“Recently photography has had my heart,” Detert said. “In the past, I would have said painting.”
This exhibit has something for everyone, featuring a variety of mediums such as ceramics, graphic design, photography, drawing, sculpture, printmaking and painting.
One noticeable piece was a photograph using archival inkjet print by Detert titled “Wyllow,” a part of her “Deadpan” series for her photography class.
Demonstrating a keen eye for photography, Detert described how this photo wasn’t choreographed, but rather more of a happy accident.
“Me and my friend were just playing around at M Schettl Sales INC…they have huge statues of the most random things for sale and they just happened to have an old airplane,” Detert said. “My friend climbed inside and when I saw her through the window, I just had to take the picture. It definitely was a spontaneous photo and didn’t go with the deadpan assignment but I still just love how it turned out.”
Another piece was an ornate and elegant ceramic sculpture done by UWO senior Carcin Woodland.
This monochromatic mini-sculpture features two lambs bookending a Rococo-inspired locket.
Woodland said the locket acted as a prototype for larger pieces she has been working on to see how the glaze would lay over the intricate designs.
Inspired by the delicateness of the locket, she decided to add the two lambs.
“I was inspired by their sweetness and how they would complement my sculpture,” Woodland said. “Both the lambs and the sculpture, being miniature and having such fine details, come together to create a delicate sweetness.”
Woodland describes how some people perceive the lack of color in her sculpture as a fear of color, but Woodland sets them straight.
“I’m more interested in how the absence of color complements the amount of detail in my sculptures,” Woodland said. “For the lambs, it gives them a less lifelike appearance, making them feel more like sculptures rather than simply mimicking a cute animal.”
Some pieces included a large woven tapestry made out of cotton called “Home (Familial)” by Sarah Vandersee, a glossy ceramic birthday cake titled “October 18th, 2003” by Ashley Xiong, and an oil on canvas painting called “Dysfunctional Nostalgia” by Sydney Feest.
Reflecting on the exhibit reception, Detert said,
“It was so cool to see my work on display for the first time,” Detert said. “Lots of people stopped to look at it and It made me smile because I’ve never experienced that before.”
