Virtual senior capstone exhibition showcases work by five Art students

Sandesh Baral, an Art major from Baltimore, centers the theme of his work on cultural identity and the conflict of deserting his past and heritage. Exploring both digital and physical media, Baral created drawings, paintings, and collages that travel back to his past.

“The use of radical colors throughout my composition expresses the extremes in my emotions as well as my thoughts. My work utilizes transfer media and collage which overlap photographs which captures the spontaneity and unpredictability of these vivid memories,” Baral said. “The process of creating this series was by first exploring the traditional Indian art style to see what ideas I can develop.”

Utilizing drawing, painting, and digital design as media, Angel Neville, an Art and German major from Ellicott City, Md., examines the concept of control. Neville focused on reproductive rights in the United States and looks at the impact of advertisements on society.

“I bridge the gap between the real world and the possible future, exploring an alternate reality, using pop art influences as a vehicle for expression,” Neville said. “By creating pieces of casual, routine art such as posters and post cards, I exploit the very concept of control I seek to illustrate to my audience.”

Inspired by a family member, Quyen Nguyen, an Art major from Baltimore, sought to find a deeper meaning in pieces created, using unique media and materials.

“My grandmother inspired me to create my artwork. I would always remember my grandmother would say, ‘rice is gold.’ Taken on its surface this could mean that this simple food provides sustenance for millions of people and is a staple in dishes from many cultures,” Nguyen said. “Looking at it metaphorically I realized it could mean to use my resources wisely, in life and in art.”

After hours of crushing mussel shells, Nguyen combined them into a soap mold with the resin to make bars that show their worth similar to bars of gold.

Darren Rivers, an Art major from District Heights, Md., explores emotional stability through his work over the years. Rivers showcases a personal connection among the people he draws and what he turns into animations.

“The personal connection is in the way most of my portraits are planned, the facial expressions are conveyed precisely with intricate details,” Rivers said. “Both digital and studio art has been focused on in order to broaden my horizons and help me work through improvements incrementally in each media. I use proportions and color to express how the human form relates to its environment and in relation to others.”

Julia Robinson, an Art major from Newark, Del., focused on fragments of past homes she has lived in to share how these places have impacted her identity. Robinson utilized resin, paper, and flower leaves in some pieces along with a tealight. Another piece resembled a bedroom with clay, hair, dryer lint, cardboard, and wood.

“Through sculpture, collage, and embroidery, I memorialize my fixed perspectives of these changing locations and show the mutualistic relationship between place and identity,” Robinson said. “These places have no inherent meaning but take on my projected meanings constructed of fragmented memories that have come to represent stages of my life.”