By Elizabeth Hartmann | Echo
Six art students will display their myriad of talents and the culmination of the hard work they have accomplished during their studies.
The opening reception for this senior art show is tonight at 6 in the Metcalf Gallery.
This exhibit's name, Discovery M.A.A.R.R.S., is an acronym of each student's name.
Megan Kammer
The senior show for Kammer, a pre-art therapy major, is titled "A Study in Humanity," and features life-sized drawings of a man and a woman, symbolizing Adam and Eve. Accompanying it are 40 photography portraits with recordings of the individuals answering the question, "What does it mean to be made in the image of God?"
As Kammer created her pieces, she spent a lot of time pondering the "why's" of humanity. After college, she intends to pursue a career as a clinical psychologist.
Ally Midgley
Midgley's show is based on monoprints, prints that can only be made once. She took a different approach to it however, and rolled ink onto plexiglass and placed different objects on it to create a barrier between the ink and paper. The resulting imprints that these ordinary objects make on the paper are her senior show.
Midgley hopes to get an art-related job and, in a few years, go to graduate school to get her Master of Fine Arts.
Amanda Felver
In her art show, Felver found healing from the anxiety and stress she was dealing with. During her hand building ceramics course, Felver learned the art of "coiling," where she places long, circular pieces of clay on top of each other and rubs her fingers through the clay to create a smooth piece of pottery.
Felver spent countless hours on her art show which is made of six bodies of pieces made from coiling going up a tiered shelf. They are arranged from dark to light, from broken to healed.
"My work displays a process of feeling damaged and completely broken, and then transforming into a piece that is whole again but still has scars to show the experiences," Felver said. "I feel as if I overcame my daily fear of anxiety and for me that is huge. I have found my calling and passion through my fears and for that I am forever grateful."
Rachel Golliher
Golliher, an art education major, used a mix of new and old work for her project. The subject for her pieces are the churches and cathedrals she saw during her semester in Orvieto, Italy.
Golliher hopes those viewing her work will be inspired think about the creativity of God in nature and the creativity he instilled in man to create such beauty.
In her future, Golliher plans to become a high school art teacher and continue to produce and sell her artwork.
Susan Denny
For her senior project, Denny tried something new. She created ceramics, but used an unusual firing method called saggar firing, which had never been done at Taylor before.
Denny paints several coats of chemicals onto a white pot, wraps it tight in aluminum foil, and fires it in the gas-fired kiln. The fumes from the chemicals result in an array of colors, and adding materials such as sawdust, steel wool and salt give decorative effects.
Denny never knows what to expect until she tears away the foil. The unique result is similar to an abstract painting.
"I want people to look at my work with the same mystery in which they were created, as though looking at a natural wonder like a slice from a geode or a spectacular night sky, or a breathtaking sunset in which you see ribbons of color running through the sky that I so often see in Indiana sunsets," Denny said.
The senior art show reveals a myriad of talents, interests and personalities. Each piece of artwork is carefully crafted with each senior's knowledge and experience to produce a masterpiece to show to the public.
Their artwork will be on display in the Metcalf Gallery until March 23.
