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After several grueling years of hard work and effort, students in their final year at Herberger Institute of Design and the Arts apply everything they learned at ASU in an exhibition project.
The four-day exhibition entitled Composition will see diverse pieces of artwork across multiple mediums - from painting to photography - created and curated by a group of seven students.
Despite coming from diverse backgrounds and specializing in different art forms, the students spent the majority of their last semester collaborating together on the development of "composition".
Students were allowed to cover a wide range of topics in their work. Mickey Estes, the fine art specialist supervising the gallery, said this was to allow students to be more exploratory, a critical skill for professional artists.
“It is important to give students the opportunity to be creative,” Estes said. "Most artists have to be self-sufficient and put up their own shows instead of telling them what to do. By doing an exhibition like this, it won't be a mystery to the students when they graduate."
Estes said he and other professors act only as a guide for students, not as a creative force in their work, to help them achieve their goals.
"You learn by doing," said Estes. “I often encourage them to use this exhibition as an opportunity to express themselves and showcase works they are proud of.”
These feelings were shared by the participating students. This includes Chili Pacheco, a senior student of drawing and painting. Pacheco, whose artistic background is in art therapy, explained how much of her work in the gallery was inspired by a major injury that changed her life.
“This exhibition gave me the opportunity to be able to express some of the thoughts and feelings I had, but didn’t have the right words,” Pacheco said. "I hope this is something that those who attend the exhibition can understand of my artwork."
For Alija Luna, a first student of painting, the creative freedom of the gallery was a powerful learning experience.
“I wanted to have a full range of works from different mediums,” Luna said. "It's a great way to set us apart to allow for greater diversity for our attendees to enjoy."
Despite the autonomy afforded to the students in the exhibition, Estes still emphasized the importance of the collective aspect of "composition".
“I think the collaborative element of the show is a key skill that I want students to understand,” Estes said. "It's an important challenge to overcome, especially when working with people from different artistic backgrounds who have different creative visions."
This is something Elizabeth Patronis, a senior student of painting, discussed in detail as a staple of the exhibition.
"We don't have a connection to each individual piece," she said. "But they're all cohesively connected because of the way we've worked with each other. I think that goes a long way in elevating the show overall."
However, this collaboration has been complicated by the coronavirus pandemic.
“I only met some of my group members once,” Pacheco said. "So it was difficult at first to get to know the people I came into contact with creatively, personally, and professionally when the connection was tight."
However, Luna explained that having a common desire was something that kept the group tightly connected.
"We all had the same end goal," Luna said. "So in the end, it all came together. We all knew who was doing what and when."
For example, Pacheco was responsible for writing press releases and passing them on to the group, while others such as Patronis helped develop the show's title.
This synergy allowed the students to continue to collaborate despite limited contact.
Estes hopes that the biggest takeaway for the audience in attendance will be to recognize the talent and hard work of the students.
“I want this to be an opportunity for those in attendance to see how talented these students are,” Estes said. "Most importantly, you realize that despite the students' different perspectives, they were able to come together and develop something incredible."
Genesis will be open through April 14 at Gallery 100 from 5-7 p.m., located at Mirabella, ASU.
Contact the reporter at amimam1@asu.edu and follow him @amir_amimam1 on Twitter.
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