Art exhibition will feature works by 10 students

The Cathy and Jesse Marion Art Gallery at SUNY Fredonia will host an exhibition featuring works by graduating Art majors.

“See Through,” the fall senior show, opens with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 10 in the gallery, which is located on the main level of Rockefeller Arts Center on the Fredonia campus at 280 Central Ave.

The exhibition, which runs through Dec. 15, includes ceramic vessels, digital illustrations, animated short films, paintings, and drawings. The title “See Through” references the idea that visitors to the exhibition will be able detect the true nature of each artist through their artwork. Both the exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.

The artists and their works are:

• Indigo Aguilar (Animation and Illustration major, and Spanish minor, Buffalo, NY) who, after the loss of matriarchal figures in her family, decided to explore the honor of memory and identity through the creation of an altar across a variety of mediums — ceramics, digital prints, and paintings. The ceramics are inspired by the pottery of the indigenous Chorotega people of Costa Rica.
• Roen Cloutier (Animation and Illustration major, Rochester, NY) who created a 12-panel digital illustration after reading Philip K. Dick’s 1953 story “The Eyes Have It.” He focuses on enlarged creepy eyes from multiple angles that suggest the plethora and invasiveness of hidden cameras, but also the idea that we might see certain people every day and actually never know anything about them.
• Katelynn Duarte (Animation and Illustration major, Long Island, NY) who brings life to her characters with seven turn-around sheets and three animated short films. Each film explores a different genre — “The Detective,” noir and thriller; “The Thief and Guards,” fantasy and comedy; and “The Apocalypse,” science fiction.
• Jasmine Johnson (Drawing and Painting major, and Art History major, Milford, CT) who creates intimate and deeply personal self-portraits, which are also striking through her use of dramatic contrasts of light and shadows. She is influenced by Romanticism, a period between the late-18th century and mid-19th century which emphasized the individual and the personal; the movement also focused on a fascination with the exotic, the mysterious, and the strange.
• Olivia Karasiewicz (Drawing and Painting major, Pike, NY) whose stylistic approach to her paintings is inspired by personal digital cameras, VHS tapes, home movies, pop-up internet ads, found film photography and found footage. Emulating a low-quality look that comes from old technology, her work draws on the intimate and the voyeuristic aspects of accessible and widespread types of media such as paparazzi, pornographic ads, and magazines.
• John Leahy (Animation and Illustration major, Long Island, NY) who explores merging 3D and 2D elements to design environments for the production pipeline of various animation and game design projects. Leahy’s works take inspiration from “Dungeons & Dragons” and “Eldrin Ring,” both gritty settings that combine Medieval history with fantasy.
• Melanie Mejia (Animation and Illustration major, Staten Island, NY) who notes pigeons are abundant in most cities in the United States, including New York City where she resides. She admits that, like many people, she thought of pigeons as “flying rats” because of their reputation for carrying disease and being a nuisance. But with her pigeon illustrations, Mejia shares her new perspective of this highly intelligent animal.
• Autumn Rivera (Animation and Illustration major, Dunkirk, NY) who uses digital art to create characters in turn-arounds, concept art, and an animated storyboard to depict the adventures of the character Mina as she and her robot companion navigate a thrilling world. The animatic makes use of the turn-arounds as a guide for character positioning in fast-action camera angles in perspective.
• Li Seagren (Drawing and Painting major, Chongqing, China) who created a series of floral paintings in which the petals of these flowers move like flame, full of vitality but still delicate and sensitive to the world around them. This concept of balance between opposing forces, known as Yin Yang, is also reflected in the ethereal backgrounds of each piece.
• Mackenzie White (Ceramics major, Binghamton, NY) whose ceramic vessels illustrate her struggle to overcome mental illness through nature. The soft organic shapes and textures juxtapose the harsh realities of nature and its brutality. The birds of prey engage in violent and destructive behaviors to illustrate the impulsive and unhealthy thoughts that occur when experiencing severe anxiety or depression; while nature is beautiful, it is also cruel and unforgiving.

“See Through” is supported by the Fredonia College Foundation’s Cathy and Jesse Marion Endowment Fund and the Friends of Rockefeller Arts Center. Gallery hours for the exhibition are: Tuesday, Dec. 10 from 6 to 9 p.m.; Wednesday, Dec. 11, and Thursday, Dec. 12, from noon to 4 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 13, and Saturday, Dec. 14 from noon to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, Dec. 15, from noon to 4 p.m.

For more information contact gallery Director Barbara Räcker via email or call (716) 673-4897.