“Reflections” by Jordan Reynolds combines the use of an acrylic mirror and an LCD to create a stimulating, virtual reality-like experience. Credit: Courtesy of Jordan Reynolds
The latest exhibition in Hopkins Hall showcases the talent of undergraduate students who were awarded scholarships in the Department of Art.
The Department of Art juried exhibition will display the works of 29 students across a variety of disciplines, ranging from glass blowing to flash animation. These students submitted applications during the Autumn 2016 semester, and each student featured in the exhibit has been granted a partial scholarship through one of the department’s sponsored funds or endowments.
“I’m really thankful for such a supportive faculty and department,” said Jordan Reynolds, a fourth-year in art and technology. “Their allowance to let you pursue your ideas allows me to create better art that pushes the contemporary standards.”
Reynolds’ piece, titled “Reflections,” features a helmet made of plywood, fabric, an acrylic mirror, a small LCD screen and headphones. The screen displays images of waves that reflect on the mirror and create an immersive, almost virtual reality-like experience for the spectator, Reynolds said. The construction of this work made him a recipient of the Aida Cannarsa Snow Endowment Scholarship fund.
Another piece features social and economic issues in rural Ohio — as reflected in a collection of photographs by Hannah Fowler, a fourth-year in photography and recipient of the Department of Art Faculty and Staff Scholarship Fund.
Fowler said her series of images, taken in Nelsonville, Ohio, offer insight into the growing issues of economic hardship and heroin addiction in the town. Even so, she said she wanted to show off the town’s charm and beauty that made an impression on her during frequent trips to visit her boyfriend’s family there.
“Nelsonville has this air of a town that time has forgotten about,” Fowler said. “This series is about bringing to light all sides of Ohio, and trying to find beauty in the not-so-pretty parts.”
Abbey Turner, a second-year in photography, said the experience of making her art and having it come to fruition through the scholarship was inspiring.
“It makes me think that I can experiment more, and work in different directions to see what happens,” Turner said.
She said she drew inspiration for her digital art piece, titled “Morning Symmetry,” from the serenity instilled in her by waking up to the sun’s rays shining on her bed. Her work in superimposing images awarded her the Daniel J. L. Firestone Photography Scholarship fund.
A reception for the exhibition will be held Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the Hopkins Hall gallery. Regular exhibition hours are Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
