Feminism, queer culture and being a twin inspired different student artists to create self-reflective art for the latest exhibit at the Grunwald Gallery.
Contemporary art by students from the BFA Studio Art program will be featured in the Grunwald Gallery through March 9. The exhibition is open from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. There will be an opening reception 6 to 8 p.m. Friday in the gallery.
The free exhibition features work from all disciplines in the BFA program, a four-semester degree through the College of Arts and Sciences offering graphic design, textiles, photography, sculpture focuses and more.
Nick Little, a senior BFA in photography, presented a portrait series mapping the progression of twins moving toward separation. Little said this series is a way to explore the intangible connection between himself and his twin, Quinn Little.
The portraits help him deal with his fear of growing up and being away from somebody he’s always been connected to, he said.
The portraits feature fraternal twins impacting the other’s physical form, until in the last photo the contact is merely a shadow, a “reference to touch.”
“I want people to understand how important this connection is to a twin,” Little said. “It is almost the defining factor to how you’ve grown up.”
BFA textiles senior Hannah Hadley’s artwork celebrates her own form of connection. Queer culture and aesthetic inspire her work.
She has three pieces on display, her favorite of which is entitled “Aye, and Gomorrah.” Each is made of fabrics that invoke, somewhat unintentionally, a pizza.
“It’s such a common thing, but it bonds people together,” she said.
The allusion to pizza was not her original intent, but it coincides with the queer culture of celebrating identity in her piece “Eat like a Queen.”
Isabelle Conrad, a junior BFA graphic design student, drew from her desire to empower women for her print entitled “Don’t Touch Me."
The print features a prickly cactus with a banner reading “Don’t touch me,” surrounded by feminine objects. To Conrad, the bows, rolling pins and irons represent the expectations of womanhood.
“I tried to make a commentary on what is on the outside and who we actually are,” she said.
The piece can be interpreted based on the viewer’s experiences, she said. She reflected herself in the print: she doesn’t like to be touched, and she is owning that.
This piece, one of three Conrad has displayed, focuses on a message of empowerment, whereas the other two focused on aesthetic.
Conrad also displayed a cookbook and packaging for a fictitious restaurant created for a graphic design course.
“There’s art behind things we don’t necessarily always think there is,” Conrad said.
The artists’ work is labor-intensive and takes time to fine tune. These BFA students encourage non-art students to attend this free exhibition.
“I think it’s important to see what students are making,” Conrad said.
