Senior Show Artist Statements

Senior Show 2023

George Waters Gallery Elmira College Elmira, New York 14901

Alex Taylor

As an artist who focuses on oil painting, there is nothing that I enjoy more than creating works of art that represent the complexity and nuances of the natural world. Providing a viewer with the chance to reflect and ponder on a deeper level based on their own experiences and places they’ve been is something truly special to me as an artist. As my artistic practice has evolved, painting landscapes in oils has become something that I never stop thinking about, and right now I paint what I find expresses the natural world in its genuine form. I am neither a hyper-realistic painter nor an abstract-expressionist, however I strive to paint scenes that are true to the feeling of a time and place. Everywhere I go, I am thinking about how to communicate a specific scene with a harmonious cumulation of color, lighting, shapes, value, composition, atmosphere and subjective accuracy onto a surface for people to enjoy and connect with.

The prominence of technology today makes connecting with nature even more crucial, so painting the grandeur of even the simplest of scenes may help to remind us all to take a moment, from time to time, and acknowledge the beauty of everything around us. I will always be a student of the medium of oil paint, and observing nature and learning from the masters who painted before me will continue to be an influence for my practice of landscape painting.

As technology evolves, the natural world around us will continue to change… drastically. A landscape may change, but a painting can preserve the majesty of a time and place in a beautiful and serene way. As you stand in front of my paintings, I ask you to put yourself in the scene and truly try to gain a sense of place in the environment that you see before you.

Sarah McGrain

I am inspired by Nature. All of my paintings and ceramic sculptures feature landscapes or animals. I find so much beauty and peace in Nature. In the spring, I love seeing the green come back and take over, watching the water flow in the creek, and listening to the birds sing. I want my artwork to capture the majesty of the natural world, and its magic.

I love animals, and I enjoy that I can express that through ceramic sculpture. Animals are both relatable and mysterious, a paradox I hope to convey with my ceramic works. I am fascinated by fantastical, exotic animals from different continents that look like they belong in fantasy novels. I love making sculptures of these animals. Specifically I make jars, similar to canopic jars from ancient Egypt, where the animal’s body is the container and the head is the lid. I start from the bottom up, with a flat slab, and work my way up with layers of coils. For a while the jars don’t look like animals, until certain key details are added; for example, my red panda sculpture initially looked like a pair of pants, until I added the tail. I enjoy that these sculptures can be used for something instead of collecting dust on a shelf.

While I haven’t been able to make my paintings utilitarian, yet, I do also enjoy painting. I’ve painted quite a few of my pets, along with landscapes. I relate to my pets a lot: the way Zoe sprawls across the floor when she’s tired, or how Chance whines when the dog licks his face. However, they also mystify me, like when they stare off at seemingly nothing, seeing something you cannot.

In my landscape paintings I want to capture a vastness that dwarfs humanity. Nature is so allencompassing, and I enjoy putting that on a flat surface. I love how paradoxical it is: so much space conveyed on something so flat. I want my art to evoke awe the way Nature evokes awe in me. I want my artwork to inspire people to go outside and look at the world.

Amayia Giscombe

This year I was blessed with the opportunity to take a class called Black Artists in America. It was because of this class that I became educated on the extensive number of Black artists that have been excluded from art history. But despite this, artists like Charles Alston, Henry Ossawa Tanner, and Norman Lewis continued to make art in their pursuit to create space for Black artists in America. It is because of them that I was inspired to incorporate the theme of Black resilience within my art pieces.

Overall, being Black is a large part of my identity. And because of this, it’s important for me to reflect that within my art. I want non-Black viewers of my artwork to understand the Black experience through images of family, cultural customs, and the struggles that Black people face in America. This is necessary because despite being able to empathize with Black people, these viewers will never truly understand what being Black in America means. Thus, through my art I hope to educate and extend a hand to my peers so that they may take a glimpse into my world.

Gabrielle Smith

This school year has been transformative. I dove more deeply into my art than I have done in previous years.

The abandoned dollhouse shows a child growing up and leaving childhood behind. I am leaving the last of my schooling behind as I head into what will be the last term of my college education at EC, next year.

The flower cup and vase symbolize the beginning of something new for me. I started working with clay last term and began to really like it. The flower petals that are underneath the cup and vase are pages from The Hunger Games, a book that I reread last term and realized I understood more upon reading it as an adult. I realized that, scarily, we are starting to become more like the society that is featured in the book, if things continue the way that they are. I first read this book when I was ten. I am now twenty-one.

The transformational aspect of the piece titled Broken But Whole was created using a broken vase that I pieced back together and was able to almost fully repair. This piece represents how I see humanity. Everything can be broken, but there is still hope that it can be fixed.

The Flower Tapestry most definitely took me the longest to make. It is made out of pages from Junie B Jones and the Stupid, Smelly Bus, The Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and The Hunger Games. Each book represents a different period in my life. Junie B Jones represents my early childhood, as that had been one of my favorite series growing up. The Wizard of Oz represents my newfound love for musical theatre in my later elementary school years and in middle school. One of my favorite musicals was inspired by it, thus I needed to include it as it led me to love the musical Wicked. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was included because I loved the books in high school and found my few friends through that love. It was the first fandom that I was in, and it helped me make some great friends who helped me to become who I am now. The Hunger Games represents my young adulthood. There are too many parallels between that book and the real world to be able to list. The Flower Tapestry traces my childhood through to my young adulthood in college, and the flowers help to signify that change.

Kharisma Blake

The Road That Lies Ahead

The miles I drive, the thoughts I have, Behind the wheel of my second home. I take in the scenic views Of these roads I roam.

Riding along with the windows down, Taylor says “Let’s get out of this town,” My past in the rearview and My future I’m heading to.

Felt I was in the backseat of my life, turning pages, typing away. Nothing said with meaning, Always going and leaving. Permits and plates, Registrations and fees, Tail Light lit pavement Guides the way for me. I feel bad for my tires,

Never can catch a break. We’re the same that way We will always be on ... The road that lies ahead.

Marisa Woodley

Choosing pieces to include in the Senior Art Show was a task I hadn’t realized would be so difficult. However, what I have displayed is what I consider to be my favorite experiences I remember when creating them. The pieces I have included do not demonstrate a consistent theme or style. Although some may credit this to an undefined taste, I instead insist that my collection works as a charcuterie board of my differing creative endeavors.

It has only recently come to my attention that throughout my artistic journey, I have rarely stuck to a consistent medium, subject, or technique when creating. I’ve found that this has given a sense of being a jack of all trades in terms of arts and craftiness. With each piece of my art, this collection demonstrates my artistic endeavors into new territory.

Overall, please feel free to have other than pleasant feelings about what is presented. The art displayed covers ideas which fascinate me: faux gore in horror, extreme emotions, impressionist classics, spirituality, loud patterns, and womanly figures. Maybe not all are beautiful scenes, but they are, at bare minimum, interesting to look at.

Amayia Giscombe, Gabrielle Smith, Alex Taylor, Prize Judge Jenna Cowder, Sarah McGrain, Kahrisma Blake

Prize Judge Jenna Cowder, Professor Derek Chalfant, Professor Chris Longwell, Media Artist Jan Kather, Sarah McGrain, Gabrielle Smith, Kharisma Blake, Professor Aaron Kather, Amayia Giscombe