Exhibition celebrates work of graduating students
Graduating students receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) exhibited their best work at the Radford University Art Museum.
The BFA Studio Graduation Exhibition, which runs until April 29 in the Art Museum at the Covington Center, displays work ranging from paintings to jewelry from the six graduating artists.
Each of the students worked closely with their faculty mentor during their time at Radford University.
Andrew Ross, assistant professor of photography, was Annie Dongoski’s faculty mentor. He said that it is “wonderful” to see the students’ work over the years and how they expand upon what is taught by developing their own ideas.
“This is my fourth year, so she’s been here as long as I have,” Ross said. “You see the students grow in skill but also grow in their ability to conceptualize and have a deeper sense of what their art should mean.”
Dongoski took images of rural architecture on 35mm color film for her portion of the exhibit. One of her images was of a speed limit sign surrounded by overgrown brush.
“I loved the way the sunlight was hitting the edge. The greens are just beautiful,” she said. “I positioned myself to try to capture the sunlight while also capturing the shadows while capturing the detail of the image.”
Observers view the BFA Exhibition in The Radford University Art Museum at the Covington Center. In addition to Dongoski, Reuter and Hawkins, students Haden King, Carol Lawrence and Burke Staunton have their work on display.
Cheyenne Reuter, who worked with Professor of Painting Halide Salam, focused her art as “a motif for the destruction of Native Americans.”
“For all these pieces, I don’t work from sketches,” she said. “I have a skull in my studio space that I look at because of the incorporated skulls I wanted to be accurate. I don’t make sure that they look like skulls because I want to merge them into a land form.
“I think that these paintings are something that you need to step back to look at because there is so much that you need to look at,” Reuter continued. “When you step closer, you see the details. The application – like sand, sawdust – to make texture. It’s a mess when you see my workspace.”
Another one of the graduating artists, Rachel Hawkins, also worked with Salam. Hawkins used her paintings as a way of “coping with the everyday rational world.”
“In some ways, I always felt out of place in the classroom setting, so whenever I came to the art world, I just wanted to release my energies out onto a canvas,” she said.