Arbitrary Ground

Posted by Holly Pons in Visual Arts

For five studio artists getting prepared to graduate this semester, their skills were put to the test for the senior thesis exhibit. On Friday, Dec. 4, friends, family and fellow students gathered in SFUAD’s Fine Arts Gallery for Arbitrary Ground. The exhibit featured the work of work Kevin Bouton-Scott, Tiffany Hanna, Samantha Iacampo, Betsy Leonard and Dana Simmons.

A piece on one of the main walls in the gallery had people stopping and staring. Bouton-Scott’s “Attending Art School with Phat Le” took up the whole wall with carved wood painted in the primary colors. Directly across the room was Bouton-Scott’s second piece, “Survey Says.” It was a larger-than-life interactive piece with instructions for use; viewers were able to pull it away from the wall and line it up with another piece to create a whole new image.

The most heart warming piece in the gallery by Tiffany Hanna. She used her project to get more exposure for the shelter dogs she works with. The oil on masonite portraits were soft and joyful. It put dogs who are normally looked down upon in a whole new light. The portraits were accompanied by a sheet of paper on which viewers could bid on a dog in effort to get it adopted. The craft along with the cause was truly an amazing combination.

Rounding the corner into the hallway hung life size self-portraits of rope suspension. Iacampo was exploring the fine line between divinity and humanity. The watercolor paintings were impressive and very life like.

Simmons wanted to show a new way of seeing. With tiles on the floor and making their way up the wall, a hidden pattern emerged in the presence of certain lights. The black light glow on the rare earth crystals was a fascinating sight.

Leonard’s installation was uncommon as she used various materials to create this idea of thinking without knowing. Torn edges of paper stuck out of the wall in a soft yet edgy way next to metal grate clouds with hanging micah. Working intuitively allowed her to gain a lot of self-awareness.

The exhibit was an incredible showcase of the talent that comes out of SFUAD. After hundred of hours of hard work, the seniors are ready to hit the ground running the real world.