Lamar University’s department of art and design will present “Chaos on Campus,” the senior thesis show, Dec. 1-7, in the Dishman Art Museum. The 11 participating students work in a variety of media from painting to photography to graphic design. A free opening reception will be held 5:30-7:30 p.m., Dec. 1.
Studio art painter Kyra Hall said she is excited to show her work. Her project is titled “Aquarena Springs,” and is based on images from a vacation in San Marcos.
“I took a trip there this summer,” she said. “Anytime, even if I'm just going on walks downtown or wherever, I take so many pictures of whatever I see that interests me. I come back home and if it was worth remembering, I paint those places.”
Hall said she enjoys painting landscapes, especially if they have architectural elements in them, and how being in the outdoors can relieve stress and anxiety.
Hall works in oils and acrylic, and each piece takes many hours to complete.
“I start with acrylic, so that speeds the process up and lets the paint dry really fast ,” she said. “I can add more than one layer on at a time. But with oil paint, with the medium that I’m using, it takes about 24 hours for one layer to dry. So, you do one layer and by the next day it might be a little tacky and then a little bit later you can add on to it. That’s thin layers. If you’re doing thicker paint it takes longer.”
Sandra Sifuentes, a drawing major, will exhibit “Fables sin Fronteras,” a children’s book.
“It's basically just fables that are known in English and Spanish,” she said. “For example, there is a rabbit and the hare, the lion and the mouse, and there's one in Spanish called ‘La Luna y El Conejo (The Moon and the Rabbit.” It’s an Aztec Mexican folk tale. It’s going to be focusing on animals because I feel that’s the easiest to start with, and for later I can just grow on to people.”
Sifuentes said she wants to her work to play on the relationship of cultures.
“I’m Mexican-American, I’m Chicana, I wanted to bring that connection,” she said. “It shows we can connect through storytelling whether it’s in English or in Spanish.”
She also has a personal reason for creating work that people with disabilities can relate to.
“I have an older brother who is nonverbal autistic and I want to express his interest and love for like dinosaurs and cars etc. — kind of like a little biography,” she said.
“Fables sin Fronteras” translates as “Fables Without Borders,” Sifuentes said.
The illustrations are pastels on a sandpaper panel, Sifuentes said.
“It has this rough texture, so the pastels color goes really well on it — its super saturated,” she said.
Hall said “Chaos on Campus” is an exciting title for the senior thesis show. “I think it’s pretty interesting and I definitely feel like, whenever you read it, you wonder what it is for our show,” she said. “Because whenever you have something that makes people think a little bit, they want to figure out more about it and come check it out and see what’s happening.”
While each artist’s series stands alone, Sifuentes said relating her work to the “Chaos on Campus” theme was easy.
“The name was chosen last,” she said. “We combined the title, our mediums, and our projects and that’s what we came up with. It’s a little bit chaotic.”
Hall said she does not go into a work with a specific mood in mind. Her process dictates how the work evolves.
“Whatever I’m in the mood for is what I’m putting (in) — that helps me put emotion into artwork, the brushstrokes, the way that I’m painting — I can put emotion onto the piece.” she said.
Artists Katelyn Akpobome, Julianna Andrews, Emily Bryan, Tabitha Holcomb, Ire Jones, Lenzi Jordan, Sydney Madison and Javier Merino Crisanto will also exhibit their work in the show.
The Dishman Art Museum is located at 1030 East Lavaca on the Lamar University campus.
For more, visit lamar.edu/dishman.
