By: Desiree Rose Bailon
For all graduates, there is a sign of how much they have grown within their studies during their years in college or university. A final showcase of their work and progress is what the senior show is at the end of every semester, just for those whose careers are around the world of art. Spectrum is the title of the senior show of Spring 2024, and it was a wide range of different people with different works from different mediums. The term spectrum have a wide range of meanings, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, where it started from a supernatural meaning to physics to any other way spectrum was used. The logo and introduction card to the gallery is a CMYK light spectrum, which fit the term quite literally in terms of light and color—the physics bringing in the term to literal representation. Why is the term itself be included in this? The artworks from each person spoke for themselves. These are some selected works of art from few of the seniors to give an idea of what their show brought in for the people to see.
Adjani Williams is one of those seniors, whose art gives the sense of horror and uncanniness to his work. His work consisted of painting and photography. It included his Self Portrait in 2024, Struggle in 2024 from his Turmoil series, and Somewhere in 2023 from his photographic Liminal series. Self Portrait and Struggle are both paintings, but one of them is a simple painting made out of oil paint, while the other is made out of heated wax mixed with colored pigments. The first painting was the image of the artist himself, abstracted to the most basic elements to the point of being uncanny to being human, yet not. The dark tones, accompanying the black gave the sense of a dreary nightmare, like his inner soul is tainted and became this horrifying version of himself. The second painting is of what looked like a compacted heart, surrounded by red and trapped in a black hole, strung by a few strands, yet looked so claustrophobic. And let’s not forget Somewhere, which explored the darkness and horror of liminal space, where being in a world that is familiar, yet not, would leave someone stranded with no place to go. The photo is of a hazy, void with a few bright lights to illuminate the vast space. A person in this place seemed to be going somewhere, but there is no place for the man to go, at least, no destination to get out of this dreaded atmosphere.
Phylisicia Lundy is another senior, who does a mix of graphic design, photography and ceramics. Two works to talk about are her second photo from the Formation series of 2023 and her ongoing Synapsis ceramic work of 2024. Form 2 is of the artist in a seated, crossed-leg position, with her body leaning forward with her palms together. She was in bright and colorful makeup and attire, which seemed outlandish, but the Formation series is based around magazine, model-like photos, an ode to that. Synapsis is based on biology, where blood vessels clump up when stressed. The term is when two cells fuse and contort to become one, which for the ceramic pieces of blue and red, they moved organically, connected in a disorderly fashion and looked messy.
Bailey Brown is the other senior to be discussed, where she focused on graphic design, a highlight by opinion, and some ceramic work. Occasion-ally of 2023 was a project she created that featured a logo for a made-up company, associated with three special cards hypothetically created by that said-company. The logo consisted of a rainbow-colored balloon with a stylized rainbow ribbon, which doubles to be a bit more friendly, inviting and hopeful, and, the spectrum of colors used in the LGBTQ+ community, as gay pride. The cards are special, as it pertains to the idea of making someone’s day or making them feel better. Another logo-based work was One Step Ahead of 2024, which featured a motion graphics designed as a meditation video. The logo was a half-compass, which is accompanied by the name and the location of the company, Early Learning and Mental Health Center. Her overall ideas revolved around mental health, which was very on the nose with One Step Ahead, but Occasion-ally does have elements that tie to the need of mental health, akin to get-well cards.
As much as these students have many works to present to the world, their work had just begun. For those graduates, this show will be their debut in their respective fields and acquire success. Each student had presented their finest works and bodies of work as their final test and the show being a last thing before they graduated with bachelors.