By Mike Nunes
Staff Writer
The College’s Art Gallery began a two-week series that displayed the pieces of work by graduating students on Wednesday, April 24.
The Thirteen Art & Design Exhibition showcased the artwork of senior fine art, digital art and graphic design majors.
These art works displayed a wide range of subjects, ranging from a microphone scrapping ink on a canvas to a portrait combining seven different kinds of historical buildings.
Senior digital arts major Pam Marotte’s piece, “Virtual Persona,” combines her love of video games with digital art. Her inspiration came from the connection that people make with video game characters.
“It’s about how people personify themselves in video game characters,” Marotte said of her art.
Virtual Persona features images of five people in motion while their upper body is replaced with images of iconic video game characters. Her work sought to illustrate how people liken themselves to these characters and live vicariously through them.
“People accomplish things in game that they can’t do in real life,” Marotte said.
Each figure took Pam an average of 25 hours to complete.
Walking into the main exhibit, guests are greeted by a large portrait of seven historical buildings mixed together.
Josh Sender’s art work, Contrived / Permanence, blends the architecture of buildings such as the Taj Mahal, the Church of Santiago in Spain and an Egyptian Obelisk.
While working on the portrait, Sender found that these buildings began to cohesively blend together.
“They all kind of look the same in the end, so it’s interesting how people find these things in it,” senior fine arts major Sender said. After college, Sender wants to work as a designer.
When entering the Gallery, visitors immediately hear the high screech of tiny motors. The spinning potted plants are placed in order to have their leaves scratch against each other. A microphone hung over head captures the sound.
In his piece “Brush,” senior art and education double major Bryan Borut works to amplify the insignificant sounds that would otherwise go unnoticed. He seeks to exacerbate the sound for guests to listen to.
The engineering of these motors was designed by Borut himself with ordinary household objects, such as a string of rubber bands he converted into a fan belt that helps to rotate the plants.
“I just thought, why not slap a bunch of things together and see how it works. Ultimate DIY project,” Borut said.
Artists will greet guests to discuss their work on Wednesday, May 1. The official opening reception for Thirteen will commence on Sunday, May 5 from noon to 3 p.m. They expect to have over 200 people in attendance.
