Six EWU students had work featured in Pressure Points, first Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Exhibition of the school year. The gallery ran from April 23 through May 8.
Each senior presented a collection of original works and a written artist statement explaining the pieces. The gallery spanned multiple rooms in the EWU Art building.
“It’s always nerve-wracking when you put your art out there for the public to be able to look at, because you’re putting a part of yourself out, and there’s a sense of vulnerability,” said Nafm, one of the senior artists. Her installation piece, Fugue Echoes, was the physically largest piece in the gallery.
“I took everything from my past projects that I’ve made in the last couple years with photography. Being able to look back at the history of the things that I have worked on and the people that I’ve worked with was important to me,” she said.
She said that photography was her favorite medium for creating her art due to its ability to capture the present.
“I like the record that you create, the archive that photography lends itself to, because every image is documentation. You’re not actually looking at what’s happening, but you’re looking at a record of what’s happening, which I think is really, really cool.”
She aimed to show the concept of connection with her works.
“It was a great experience being able to work with other artists as we continue to grow, and I’ve learned a lot from my peers who are graduating with me,” she said. “It’s important to understand how connected we are with one another and how we’ll continue to grow.”
Nafm said her ultimate goal is to get a Master of Fine Arts and teach.
Steve Grime, another senior artist, primarily created his pieces through printmaking, painting, and 3D printing.
He based three of his paintings, Documents 1, 2, and 3, on videos taken in drug markets in a Philadelphia Neighborhood.
“They resonated with me as something important to document,” he told the Easterner.
In his artist statement, he wrote, “My goal was to create an aesthetic conflict between a veneer of beauty and this outrageous human tragedy, as a call out to our willful ignorance and indifference to this national catastrophe.”
His favorite piece was The Battle, a block print work depicting a battle between an octopus and a bald eagle.
“I exhausted different mediums in trying to get the vision right, and each medium has a different kind of look to it. I think the block print turned out really well, and I’m doing a 4-foot by 6-foot oil painting with the same composition.”
Grime is working on creating an online presence, including a website where customers can purchase prints or original works.
The next BFA senior gallery, Consumption, opens on May 22 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. It will highlight seven more graduating BFA artists.
“It’s important for students to go and visit these shows, especially students that aren’t involved in the humanities,” Grime said. “I think the works that people do will surprise other students and faculty.
