The Windgate Museum of Art announces the opening of its spring senior art student exhibition Making it Happen: Changing the Landscape of Representation. Each year, the graduating seniors from the Department of Art create and exhibit capstone projects in their medium of study. Five studio art majors are graduating this semester and will have their works on exhibit available for viewing April 14, 2023 – May 12, 2023.
Below, view a gallery of works from the senior art majors of 2023, with excerpts from their accompanying artist statements.
2023 Senior Art Majors
- Grace Capooth
- Adaja Cooper
- Jalache Davis
- Zion Fletcher
- Michaela Thaibinh
Grace Capooth
My work in this show grew from a single question: How are women powerful? In a film class my junior year, we delved into the representation of women in cinema and the shortcomings of the industry’s representation of feminine power. Often, women are masculinized in order to convey a higher rank. I plan to pursue a career in film, and I want to enter the industry confident that I have given full consideration to the topic, being both a woman and in the position of portraying others. Thus, I’m creating this body of work as both a reflection on my experiences as a young woman and as a personal thought-experiment to prepare me for entering in the world of film.
Adaja Cooper
For my senior capstone, I wanted my body of work to show the impact that water has had on Black American Culture. As an artist, I have been captivated by the complex relationship between water and Black culture. I relied on personal memories, experiences and even references from popular media. Water has played a vital role in shaping the history, identity, and traditions of Black people around the world.
Jalache Davis
I deliberately choose to illustrate scenes where Black Americans are excelling in growing and developing their environment. When I use the concept of community, I’m integrating a variety of factors that generate specific images. Factors like political interactions, distribution of resources, education, crime, public health, the economy, i.e., the intertwined network of relationships, all are aspects of community. These factors evoke elaborate and specific imagery of ingenuity when observing the Black people in their constructed environments. Drawing inspiration from the community in which I’ve grown to appreciate for its contribution to my success, my end goal has always been and continues to be capturing minorities in a manner that promotes happiness and well-being.
Zion Fletcher
This work represents my rebirth. Using what my mother taught me, I represent how I created a new me. The prints show who I am as a person now. The clothing tells the story of how I got to this point in life. The story is represented visually through photography, block print, stitching, etc.
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