Two art students’ work is currently being featuring in the THIS and THAT Galleries at the Visual Arts Building with two very diverse exhibitions that began on Oct. 14.
The THIS Gallery will be featuring senior Brooke Michael. Her exhibition consists of twelve pieces which are all part of a whole meant to be displayed together.
“There are three 3D prints resembling the human figure which I ‘digitally sculpted’ using 3D modeling programs and then printed and assembled. Then there are eight digital prints taken from frames in the animation,” Michael said. She created these animations through 3D modeling programs such as Cinema 4D.
Her inspiration for this exhibition came from a mixture of drawing from patterns in nature, which resulted in a biomorphic representation, sci-fi films, wanting to develop futurist concepts and Experimental Video and 3D Modeling classes taught by Brandon Gellis.
“My creative process draws upon many inspirations that I soak up in my daily life,” Michael said. “I enjoy abstracting anatomical features of the human body and exploring the complexity of the human existence. By utilizing ethereal elements and challenging reality, my work holds a subtle, surreal quality, bringing forth ideas of futuristic societies.”
In the THAT Gallery, art major, William Myers’ “Works on a Whiteboard” exhibition is being featured. His exhibition consists of five larger-than-life dry erase portraits and one life-size figure drawing to scale on whiteboards.
“I begin by projecting the image onto the whiteboard, getting the composition right, and tracing the key lines. After that I start drawing the large areas of highlights using yellow dry erase marker and leaving the negative space of the whiteboard to emphasize the areas of most intense light. After that, I finish drawing in the areas of shading using blues, oranges, and purples,” Myers said. His process takes around eight to sixteen hours.
The two portraits of Chief Washakie and Myers’ uncle were done using CMYK optical color mixing with dry erase markers and Myers argues they turned out to be the strongest pieces as they are the closest to being photo-realistic. All his pieces were done in an illustrative-realism style using a crossed-hatched line and optical color mixing technique.
“When they [drawings] are finished I leave them as they are, knowing that they could be wiped out at any moment emphasizes the medium being used, adds to fear factor, and delicacy of the art form.” Myers said in regards to picking an abnormal medium for his work.
Myers biggest inspiration for the exhibition comes from his family and sense of home, with Myers’ favorite pieces being the portraits of Chief Washakie and of his uncle. Four of his figures are family members and the two other figures consist of Chief Washakie and Jackson Pollock, two strong historical people in Wyoming, the state Myers calls home.
Getting featured in the THIS and THAT Galleries in the Visual Arts Building is not an easy task. E-mail applications are sent out to students majoring or minoring in art at UW and then evaluated in a selection process.
“Applications are looked over and eight exhibitions are awarded,” THIS/THAT Student Gallery Director and associate professor of sculpture, Ashley Carlisle said. “The students are fully responsible for every aspect of the show.”
The exhibitions are three weeks in duration and receptions for both galleries will be held Oct. 26.
