{"id":2767,"date":"2022-09-15T11:30:51","date_gmt":"2022-09-15T15:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/art-museum\/?p=2767"},"modified":"2022-10-25T11:29:20","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T15:29:20","slug":"student-response-exhibition-sre-artist-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/art-museum\/2022\/09\/student-response-exhibition-sre-artist-features\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Response Exhibition (SRE) Artist Features"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Sarah Snyder, Marketing and Communications Intern<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to the SRE Spotlight, where we feature three artists and their works every week! These Miami students created art in conjunction with the 2022-2023 FOCUS theme of Tribal Sovereignty, which has been expanded to include land, identity and community. Their work is currently displayed in MUAM\u2019s exhibition titled Interconnected: Land | Identity | Community (A Student Response)<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student art will be displayed in the Miami University Art Museum for the Fall 2022 semester (through Dec 10), culminating in a celebration of student creativity on Wed, Nov 9, 2022 at 5 PM during a celebration and awards ceremony. Artists showcased in the exhibition will be featured on the MUAM Instagram<\/a> account and this blog<\/a> every week, so stay tuned for spotlights on your favorite student artists in the coming weeks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Week 8 :: Peyton Matik | Deanna Hay | Sammi Meyers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Peyton Matik is a junior studying Psychology and Art Therapy with a minor in Theater. She uses her personal identity to create art that speaks to her experiences and relationship to the world around her. \u201cNice to Meet You\u201d is a black-and-white photograph detailing an altered photograph of Matik from her childhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The scissors, thread, safety pins, and more express how individuals carefully curate themselves to appeal to the world around them. Matik expands upon the idea, saying \u201cWe carve out the pieces of ourselves that allow us to fit in with the majority, and leave the parts of ourselves that don’t fit on the cutting room floor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matik\u2019s other work of art, \u201cYou and Your People\u201d explores a portion of that identity, focusing on her Jewish heritage, generational trauma, and experience as a Jew in America. \u201cBut more than that,\u201d says Matik, \u201cit shows the longing for things to change.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Deanna Hay chose to make the most of her time at Miami with majors in International Studies and Media and Culture, and minors in Studio Art and French.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Her video-based art titled \u201cGratitude\u201d expresses deep emotion with a focus on memories. These memories, tied to objects, become even more meaningful as one experiences loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hay explains, \u201cThe way in which we hold our experiences affects our growth and determines how we identify ourselves for the future. I aim to capture the impact left upon me not only by my aunt, but by my experience with her passing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sammi Meyers, a sophomore majoring in Communication Design and minoring in Emerging Technology in Business and Design, uses unconventional materials to create meaning in her artwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cPalatable\u201d is built from cut and painted paper plates, suggesting a relationship between nature and the food it creates for us. The rich, bold colors and detailed expression of natural food create a sense of wonder and vibrancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meyers, who has a love for outdoor adventures, explains that \u201cnaturally grown food is a wonder produced by our land that can be utilized in many ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Week 7 :: Kenneth DeCrosta | Malik Wilkins | Caitlin Curran<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kenneth DeCrosta, a freshman at Miami majoring in political science, focuses his art on documentary photography and photojournalism. His artwork chosen for Interconnected: Land | Identity | Community<\/em> came about from one such reporting opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kenneth first discovered the subjects of his photograph Honey Comb<\/em> while on assignment for The Miami Student newspaper. Tasked with taking photos of the Miami University Apiculture Society, he joined them on a routine bee hive inspection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was drawn to this scene by the lighting which illuminated the honeycomb, [then] quickly fell off into shadow,\u201d said DeCrosta. His interest in the hives led him to join the Apiculture Society, a part of Miami that he has become very grateful for.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As a senior with a major in Studio Art and concentration in Painting, Malik Wilkins has found a love for abstract painting and the opportunities it holds. Openhanded<\/em> represents many things to Wilkins, but centers itself upon his compassion and willingness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The concept of the painting comes from a computer animation created by Wilkins himself, and his goal was to recreate the digital, grainy look that the animation held. The open hand symbolizes two separate concepts, the first being his empathetic ability to offer aid and support to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second half of the symbol comes from Wilkins\u2019 religion as a Christian, where the saying of living with \u201copen hands\u201d is perpetuated. Wilkins expands upon it, saying \u201cthis also represents me being ready to give and receive blessings.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Caitlin Curran is a freshman studying Communication Design with minors in Art and Art History. She often gravitates toward nature for artistic inspiration as a creative outlet, and her artwork titled Outside, In<\/em> is no different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The painting was based on two photos taken by Curran: one at Zion National Park, and another in an abandoned building. She uses both to bring to light the issue of the \u201cdestruction and degradation of nature,\u201d where natural beauty is forced to give way to \u201cnew pristine houses rising upon toiled soil and strips of concrete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her painting reverses the roles, allowing nature to overtake the industrialized civilization that the world has become accustomed to. Curran explains that Outside, In<\/em> explores \u201can untouched landscape from Zion National Park [sprawling] across the background, while an array of abandoned and decrepit furniture resides in the foreground.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Week 6 :: Cassady Edwards | Lela Troyer | Macey Chamberlin<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cassady Edwards, a Miami senior majoring in Art Education and Sculpture, submitted Ol\u2019 Iron Eyes<\/em> to the Student Response Exhibition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ol’ Iron Eyes<\/em> hangs down upon the art museum’s floor in a stunning display of detail, color, and intrigue. The industrial-style sculpture uses large eyes and a cloud to explore identity and separation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edwards explains that the industrial materials represent \u201cthe fragmented identity of biological [versus] adopted family,\u201d and the cloud represents the \u201comnipotence and ever-presence of those who sculpt your identity from separated or remote circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Senior Lela Troyer, majoring in Communication Design with a minor in Japanese, created Pride<\/em>, a response to changing and balancing identity. The subject of the painting, a sandhill crane, symbolizes the Myaamia people and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Troyer describes struggling to accept her identity in Myaamia because of how it contradicts a preexisting identity she made for herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFully embracing oneself as both an individual and a community member can feel like a confinement to the expectations of others,\u201d says Troyer, \u201cbut one important truth in life is that you are always you no matter how much nuance there is to that definition.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Macey Chamberlin is a sophomore at Miami majoring in Communication Design and minoring in Fashion. Her print In Knots<\/em> depicts a woman whose very self is keeping her tied up in her own thoughts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Intaglio print process used to create the piece was Chamberlin\u2019s first experience with it, but she finds that the experimental and surreal nature makes the piece even more communicative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the subject considers its own identity, it gets caught up in the chaos. Chamberlin says, \u201cI wanted to show the feeling of overthinking one’s own identity, questioning who you really are, what you really stand for, and how others perceive you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Week 5 :: Megan Sekulich | Eva Fox | Zo\u00eb Neubig<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Megan Sekulich, a senior majoring in Studio Art and minoring in Fashion Design, submitted two artworks for the MUAM student response exhibition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cycle, Land Connection<\/em> explores the relationship between humanity and the environment. \u201cThis piece,\u201d Sekulich says, \u201crepresents the symbiotic relationship we have with nature.\u201d As a Myaamia artist, Sekulich seeks to address her identity in conjunction with other themes. \u201cWe respect our environment and it provides for us, creating a cycle of interaction,\u201d explains Sekulich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sekulich\u2019s second artwork, Individual Right To Interpretation<\/em>, illustrates to the viewer a \u201cMyaamia experience that the viewer can understand in whatever way makes most sense to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sophomore Eva Fox is majoring in Studio Art with a minor in Art & Architecture History at Miami. Her artworks Sitting With Change <\/em>and Floating <\/em>show how her identity as a lesbian and genderqueer Myaamia student change, grow, and define her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sitting With Change<\/em> depicts how Fox\u2019s identity has shifted over the course of last year. \u201cI have many facets to who I am,\u201d says Fox, \u201c[and] I often sit in solitude to spend time with myself, to know me better as I change and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her second artwork, Floating<\/em>, seen here, explores how that identity has sometimes left her \u201cat the whim of change.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Zo\u00eb Neubig is a senior majoring in Studio Art and Art Therapy with a minor in Art History at Miami. Although her concentrations are in painting and sculpture, she often uses a multitude of mediums to create her art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Her detailed sculpture titled Something Rotten<\/em>, seen here, embodies how the human body changes in response to trauma. “After physical boundaries are violated, one’s perceptual relationship to their body may become strange and unfamiliar,” explains Neubig. This change occurs both physically and psychologically over the course of time. The subject struggles to stand up tall, and her body decays and gives way to fungi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis piece,\u201d says Neubig, \u201cseeks to represent this alienation between body and mind as one of many psychosomatic effects of trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Week 4 :: Harris Martinson | Lauren Butts | Kayla Becker<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Harris Martinson, a graduate student studying Painting at Miami University, created a large and detailed painting titled The Call<\/em>. Part of a larger project, The Call<\/em> seeks to work against alienation and toward reconciliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Martinson explains that the child in the painting is \u201ccaught with an awareness, a charge, that manifests as a moment of tension between the world she inhabits and our own world.\u201d The subject is uncertain of her path, yet present in her surroundings. The painting and its larger project \u201cemerges from a personal task of reconciliation between the artist and the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sophomore Lauren Butts, who is majoring in Art Education with an Outdoor Leadership Certificate, submitted Ignite<\/em>, a photograph of a sculpture on fire in nature. The photograph seeks to highlight the importance of preserving and protecting nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe land I inhabit means much to me,\u201d says Butts. \u201cThe National Parks need protection, [and] this piece explains how they are more prone to wildfires due to global warming and reckless recreation.\u201d Her passion for hiking and Leave No Trace principles give her a unique perspective on environmental protection, shown in the photograph\u2019s theme. She explains the play-on-words, saying \u201cLet\u2019s ignite a passion inside ourselves to stop the ignition of the natural world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Kayla Becker, Miami student and mother of five, is studying Computer Science and bringing her Native American heritage to her artwork at MUAM. Her two pieces of art, Who We Were Is Who We Are<\/em> and niila myaamia – I Am Miami<\/em>, explore her relationship to her identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Her first artwork, Who We Were Is Who We Are<\/em>, represents the sorrow of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma, which Becker is a member of. The black silhouette and background highlight the tears, which are cut from photos of the Wabash River. The river was a large part of the tribe\u2019s lifeline and identity. \u201cI\u2019ve seen some of the suffering that resulted from forced removals,\u201d says Becker. \u201cThe tears show that we still exist, and those original lands are still part of who we are today.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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niila myaamia – I Am Miami<\/em>, which is Becker\u2019s second artwork, is a spear dance stick threaded with over 11,000 beads that were placed one at a time. Geometric shapes, swirls of fire, and flowers decorate the stick, which is replete with symbolism. Becker explains, \u201cIt is the connection between my ancestors\u2019 passion and my own\u2026 I continue my journey to find myself, armed with this spear that represents where I came from.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Week 3 :: Mary Visco | Molly Ensor | Sofia Milosevic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Mary Visco is a Miami junior studying Studio Art with minors in Museums and Society, Art Management, and Art History. Her painting titled Down to the Edge<\/em>, full of rich whorls of color, explores her relationship with land and identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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She explains that her journey of understanding the land she inhabits has affected how she views her own presence in it. \u201cMy relationship to nature and its great expanse has changed constantly throughout my life, but this notion has remained the same,\u201d says Visco. \u201cI have only begun to make sense of my relation to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Molly Ensor, a Miami junior, is studying Art Education with a minor in Studio Art. She works mainly with metal and ceramics, and her artwork titled Pinky Promise<\/em> takes the shape of a bronze ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cA pinky promise, or pinky swear, may seem childish, but that’s what’s so great about it,\u201d Ensor states. Children, she says, are genuine and honest, and the pain of a broken promise does not hurt as deep. The ring itself is representative of a promise made, and the two nickel loops refer to the two people involved in the commitment made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ring itself was a long-term work of love, one that required the usage of the lost wax method. Ensor and her professor worked diligently, “hand carving a block of wax, supporting the form with sprues, encasing it in plaster, burning it out in the kiln, then infusing the mold with molten metal.”<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sofia Milosevic\u2019s artwork, titled The Lake<\/em> explores her memories of childhood and family. The Miami senior is studying Psychology and English Literature, with a minor in Art Therapy, and attributes much of her inspiration to her hometown in Belgrade, Serbia. The lake in question, named Tresnja Lake, or “Cherry Lake” in English, holds many of Milosevic’s fondest childhood memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Ultimately, I remember Tresnja as one of those sites that allows you to bond with your family and friends as a kid, while also allowing you to bond with the vibrant environment around you,” states Milosevic. \u201cFrom my interaction with the nature here, I\u2019ve learned a sincere respect and appreciation for our human and non-human life alike, and the need to protect our land.”<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Week 2 :: Hannah Litt | Reilly Powers | Olivia De Leon<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This week\u2019s SRE Spotlight artists are Hannah Litt, Reilly Powers, and Olivia De Leon! Read below to learn more about these Miami students and their art, and make sure to visit MUAM and vote for your three favorite artworks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hannah Litt, a Miami sophomore with a major in Art Education and a minor in Art History, created Held In Her<\/em> for the exhibition. The sculpture, shown to the right, depicts a bronze woman held by a plaster hand. Litt explains that \u201cfeminine natural beauty is looked down on, yet so valued in masculine sectors as something to be held.\u201d The sculpture reflects Hannah\u2019s identity as a Jewish woman, where she has learned \u201cthe power to be herself unapologetically, and yet be ready for shame and restriction from society.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Reilly Powers is a freshman studying Art Education and Studio Arts at Miami, and her two art works titled Continued Growth<\/em> and Reflection in the Mirror<\/em> are currently displayed at the museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The former, shown in the left of the photo, represents \u201cthe importance of the land that once was a part of Freedom Summer,\u201d the 1964 voter registration drive where hundreds of activists trained on Miami grounds to increase voter registration in Mississippi. \u201cThe three limbs of the tree represent James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner,\u201d three activists who were murdered in Mississippi while registering black voters. Powers seeks to honor their memory and sacrifices with her artwork.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Powers\u2019 second artwork, Reflection in the Mirror<\/em>, expresses her struggle with self-identity. She states that \u201cwhat each person sees in their mirror is completely unique – our identities are formed from our experiences in life.\u201d Both artworks are on display at the Student Response Exhibition this fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The third SRE Spotlight Artist, Olivia De Leon, is a junior at Miami with a major in Studio Art and a minor in Museums and Society. Her painting, shown to the right, titled Where Do I Stand?<\/em> focuses on her experiences with change and identity. In 2019, De Leon moved with her family to Mexico, where she found a new confidence and independence. \u201cI have learned to face my fears, reflect on the state of my mental health, and what the value of curiosity is.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Week 1 :: Ishita Islam | Marfo Glover | Libby Slauenwhite<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ishita Islam, Marfo Glover, and Libby Slauenwhite have been selected for this week\u2019s MUAM Student Response Exhibition Spotlight! These students, along with many of their peers, submitted art in conjunction with this year\u2019s FOCUS theme of Tribal Sovereignty, and their artwork will be displayed for the entire semester at the museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ishita Islam, a graduate student pursuing a Studio Art major at Miami University, submitted two displayed artworks, titled Quest for Identity<\/em> and From land to land<\/em>. The former is the painting shown below, which represents emotions of migration, safety, and change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Islam states that \u201cevery ordinary person has to go through diverse experiences, feelings and situations in their lives. We try to connect our different versions of ourselves with a linear balance to make it sound and settle our identity.\u201d She used her experience with migration from Bangladesh to America to highlight the \u201ctogetherness of individual parts of\u2026 identity\u201d through changes and challenges in Quest for Identity<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Her second artwork, titled From land to land<\/em>, uses found objects as the background for poetry, which also highlights humanity, identity, and dealing with change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marfo Glover is another graduate student at Miami, where he studies Jewelry and Metals Design with a minor in 3D Modeling. His artwork titled Defensive Mechanism<\/em> is sculptural jewelry meant to evoke \u201cprotective sentiments, remain elegant, and convey a sense of both power to wearer and viewer,\u201d as Glover describes it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The piece of art is meant to sit on the wearer\u2019s neck with the intention of both beauty and defense. Glover drew from his experience as a young Ghanian artist and borrowed from \u201cboth African traditional and contemporary aesthetic languages while entertaining cross-cultural influences of [his] lived experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The last student of this week\u2019s spotlight, Libby Slauenwhite, is studying Studio Art as a graduate student at Miami, and her two pieces Sticks and Stones<\/em> and Garden Kaleidoscope<\/em> are currently displayed at the museum. The former is a plaster sculpture depicting the torso of a victim of external trauma who is covered in armor of \u201csticks and stones.\u201d The sculpture represents \u201cthe tarnishing of\u2026 female purity and innocence,\u201d but also how women \u201cwear the critiques of\u2026 womanhood as armor against the societal attacks on\u2026 identity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Slauenwhite\u2019s second artwork, titled Garden Kaleidoscope<\/em>, embodies her experience as a child in an Air Force family, specifically the chaos of changing circumstances, childhood nostalgia, and finding identity within new environments. The print \u201creferences the kaleidoscope, a prominent toy from [her] childhood,\u201d along with the \u201cpassing of time and our inability to stop or slow it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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