Graduating Senior Art Exhibition opens in Bradbury Gallery April 26
The Bradbury Gallery presents the Spring 2012 Senior Exhibition on Thursday, April 26, with an opening reception at 5 p.m. This exhibition features graduating students from the Arkansas State University Department of Art. This semester the exhibiting artists are Steve Adair, Laura Flowers, Shelly Gibson, Adam S. Hogan, Bryanna Jaramillo, and Dylan McAlister. These artists will be represented by bodies of work they have created while at ASU. The artwork ranges widely in style and process, resulting in a dynamic exhibition that serves as an interesting snapshot of what is currently being produced by students at the university. Included in the exhibition will be assemblage, drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, and sound installation. The exhibition runs through Saturday, May 12. The exhibition is free and open to the public. The Bradbury Gallery is located in ASU’s Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Drive, Jonesboro.
Steve Adair will earn his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, with an emphasis in art education. He has been an active participant in student organizations on campus, including the Art Educators Club and the Art Student Union. He also served as an assistant in the ASU Fine Arts Center Gallery. In 2011, Adair was a juror for the K-12 Art Show, a juried competition that featured artwork from schools in the Jonesboro area.
Along with studying art education, Adair has also focused on honing his skills as a painter. His works have been exhibited across Arkansas and in Colorado. He participated in both the 2011 and the 2012 ASU Art Student Union’s annual juried exhibition, receiving an award in 2011 for his painting, Sisters. Most recently, his work was featured in 2012 Small Works on Paper, an exhibition produced by the Arkansas Arts Council, which travels to ten galleries across Arkansas.
In his artist’s statement, Adair says, “My paintings and collages are created using found imagery and objects from previous decades.These items consist of domestic refuse I acquire from abandoned houses across Arkansas. I am interested in the deteriorating condition of these objects, especially in the found imagery. For me, these objects evoke an ethereal feeling that is both tangible and emotional. With the application of collage and paint, I am able to use these found images as an impetus for new narratives and new transformations. Furthermore, I seek to create a connection between the visual language of found imagery and the 20th-century cosmic landscape.”
After graduation, Adair plans to continue creating and exhibiting work and eventually furthering his studies by attending graduate school. Until then, he plans on applying his knowledge in his career as an art educator.
While at ASU, Laura Flowers has studied studio art with a focus on sculpture, resulting in a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree which she will receive this May. Flowers has exhibited her work in several locations including the ASU Art Student Union’s annual juried exhibition in both 2010 and 2012, the advanced sculpture Summer Exhibition and the 333 Exhibition, both held in the Dean B. Ellis Library Gallery.
In discussing her work Flowers states, “I am drawn to natural materials that are symbolic of my surroundings. The fragility of these materials represents an adaptation to an environment in which one might be involuntarily inclined to live. Domesticity plays a large role in my work. I am greatly interested in the relationship that we share with essential daily possessions. Humans have adapted so well to their environment that we have become complacent and oblivious to the comforts we now possess. I strive to bring the viewer to question the value of these items by putting forth an image of the possibility of a life without modern day comforts. Creating an environment of instability and delicacy engulfs the subject in exploring a new and different frame of mind. The viewer interacts with the ambiguous pieces, becoming conscious of the fragility of the items, and then adapting their motives toward the preservation of these precious objects.”
Flowers currently resides in Jonesboro where she maintains an artist’s studio.
Originally from Brookland, Shelly Gibson now resides in Jonesboro. She will graduate this May with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree specializing in photography. After graduation, Gibson plans to continue working at her already established gifts and crafts business, Molly May Designs, which she plans to expand to include a digital photography studio.
While talking about her photographs, she says, “I take ordinary objects and photograph them in a unique way, using software to highlight the colors and textures that further enhance the image. My goal is not to tell a story, but it is
This May, Adam S. Hogan will graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in studio art with a concentration in sculpture. His work has been shown in many group exhibitions including the 2011 and 2012 ASU Art Student Union’s annual juried exhibitions, the 333 Exhibition at the Dean B. Ellis Library Gallery, and a group exhibition held in The Gallery on the Square in Pocahontas.
During his academic career, he has been awarded three portfolio-based scholarships from the ASU Department of Art along with a grant-in-aid scholarship for sculpture in 2012. He also held a position at the Bradbury Gallery from 2010 to 2012. This spring, Hogan also received the prestigious Outstanding Senior Award for a BFA in Studio Art from the ASU Department of Art.
In explaining his work, Hogan says “Communication is an interaction that shapes and affects all things abstract or concrete.The human experience has always relied on interpreting the information given to us by others and our surroundings. I am of the opinion that without communication there is no reason, no science, no culture, no art. Through my work I strive to express the interactions and relationships between communication and humanity.
He continues, “Currently, my focus lies in the connection between information, society, and the individual. I explore how mass communication and the readily available network of information shapes the individual and subsequently society.”
After graduation, he will attend Washington University in St. Louis to work on a Master of Fine Arts degree in Visual Art. Washington University has awarded him the 2012-13 Graduate School of Art Scholarship and a teaching assistantship.
Bryanna Jaramillo, who was born in Jonesboro, will receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in May. While attending ASU her work has been shown in several locations. She has exhibited in the 12 by 12 Show at the Edge Coffee House, the 333 Exhibition and the 2011 Sculpture Exhibition at the Dean B. Ellis Library Gallery, the 2011 and the 2012 ASU Art Student Union’s annual juried exhibitions and in the Juried Student Senior Show held in the Fine Arts Center Gallery.
Jaramillo was also a participant in the Silent Auction and the Starving Artist Sale, which were both charitable events held to assist the Northeast Arkansas Food Bank. Her works of art are also in several private collections in the Jonesboro area.
In her artist’s statement, Jaramillo explains, “These paintings and drawings are of missing children in the United States and of individuals who have passed away; most of them dating back to the great depression and Victorian eras. First, I search for pictures that intrigue me. The faces of people I find might have certain traits that resemble people I’ve known personally, or simply faces that I feel need an identity. I use a variety of different materials for my surfaces, and a limited color palette. My sculptures also relate back to a previous time period. I use found materials such as cardboard and wood, or items that belonged to other individuals before they passed away and manipulate the objects to my own desire.”
After graduation, Jaramillo plans to attend graduate school to further her studies of art.
Jonesboro native Dylan McAlister will graduate this May, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with an emphasis in painting. While at ASU, he was awarded a Dean’s Scholarship. For the past four years, he also received a portfolio-based scholarship from the Department of Art.
McAlister’s paintings have been seen yearly since 2008 in the ASU Art Student Union’s juried exhibitions held in the Fine Arts Center Gallery. His work can also be found in private collections throughout Jonesboro.
McAlister states, “I utilize the tradition of painting to create an atmosphere that is harsh, yet alluring. I work in layers, covering and uncovering, until the piece reaches a point of ambivalence and staggers on the edge of entropy. I create visual art from a mindset parallel to that of creating music. The piece is worked until a harmony or particular discord is reached.”
He concludes by saying, “There exists a tension between the concrete and organic elements that alludes to the tension in almost every aspect of contemporary life. My work refers to youth, urban music, and underground culture and its root in tradition and also anti-tradition.”
Bradbury Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, and 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, and by appointment. The gallery is closed on Monday. For additional information, contact Les Christensen, director of the Bradbury Gallery, at (870) 972-3471.
Images, from top:
Steve Adair, "I shot an arrow into the air," 2011-12, oil on canvas
Laura Flowers, "Orphanage," 2012, wood and paraffin wax
Shelly Gibson, "Rooster," 2012, digital print on metallic paper
Adam S. Hogan, "An Embodiment of Characters," 2011, welded steel, paint
Dylan McAlister, "Untitled," 2012, acrylic on canvas
