Students selected for Daemen College All High Art Exhibition By Tricia Butski, Art Teacher
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very year Daemen College hosts an annual juried art exhibition featuring the work of regional high school juniors and seniors. Art teachers from across Western New York are invited to submit a limited number of student works for consideration in the show. This year, we were excited to have four SEM students selected to display their work in the All High Art Exhibition titled, “Think Outside the Frame.” Rowan Brown represented our senior class and Lili Schmid, AJ Rieman, and Andrea Alave represented our juniors. These students were selected from among the large field of talented SEM students. Rowan, Lili, AJ, and Andrea have taken several art classes at SEM, and maintain active art practices outside of school as well. All four students bring their own unique perspectives to the artistic process, displaying individualism through a variety of styles and techniques. Rowan submitted her surreal photo collage, “Wrinkle in Mind,” which she created in the Mixed Media Mash-Up class during the fall of 2021. Her artwork is very detail-oriented, involving a meticulous process of selecting images from found magazines, and making intricate cuts to piece together dreamlike imagery. Rowan’s fascination with mushrooms is often apparent in the work she creates. Lili created her acrylic painting, “Jellyfish,” specifically for the All High Art Exhibition. She says about the work, “I wanted to step outside my comfort zone as an artist and work on a bigger scale with acrylic paint that I don’t use too often. I chose to do a jellyfish because it allowed me to have a lot of freedom in my brush strokes due to how swiftly a jellyfish moves.” AJ created her mixed media piece, “She Won’t Quit,” using acrylic paint, clay, and burnt cigarettes. She related that “One of my biggest fears is my mom dying. She kept her smoking secret from me for years. I always assumed the ashtray on the back
Clockwise from left: Andrea Alave ’23 with “Bread Boy,” Lili Schmid ’23 with “Jellyfish,” AJ Rieman ’23 with “She Won’t Quit,” Rowan Brown ’22 with “Wrinkle in Mind” porch was my stepdad’s and when she smelled like smoke I assumed one of her friends was smoking near her. I’ve always had an inkling but when I was certain, all I wanted to do was take a scrub brush and scrub her lungs myself.” Andrea was inspired by a found photo of an anonymous boy, dated around the early 1900’s. She created “Bread Boy” using acrylics and colored pencil on paper. Andrea says, “‘Bread Boy’ took about four days to complete altogether. At first, the portrait was going to be just toast and eggs but I found a black and white picture that showed a boy carrying a
basket of bread and took inspiration from the boy himself. When it comes to color, I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and attempt to use color, not just for the face but for the full body.” Andrea received exciting news that she was awarded an Honorable Mention for her piece and a $1,000 scholarship to Daemen College. We are so proud of our young artists for their persistence and enthusiasm. Rowan, Lili, AJ, and Andrea are all exemplary students with a strong dedication to their art practices.
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