Near Graduation

Putting on the show

for 

Graduate Students 

at R.I.T.

Opening April, 2016

The bustle of activity as graduate students prepare for their Thesis show in the Bevier Gallery at R.I.T. - and the anticipation of crowds on opening night puts some electric in the air.  There is a lot of work to be done, as the student artists unpack and mount their works.  Suddenly their work looks so different when it is taken out of the studio and put into the gallery space.  Different light, and different vantage points can help or hinder your appreciation of all that work.  Does the artwork stand up to scrutiny?  What kind of feedback will the student get once the work is out of their studio space, and what will they have to say about the experience?

Nadine Longmore

at 

Bevier Gallery

R.I.T

At the opening I met with Nadine and her twin sister, and we spoke about her artwork. I wonder if the intention of the artist carried across to the visitors to the show - her feelings were about making paintings that expressed a deep bond between her and her sister...  Does the abstraction allow for this kind of reading?  Will the paintings lead to a new direction in the artists work and life?  How will the lessons learned doing these paintings affect her in the future...  Many questions remain to be answered.

Garvin Sealy

at 

Beaver Gallery

R.I.T.

Garvin Sealy introduced me to his mom who was visiting from her home in Florida.  I hope she feels good about all the artwork her son has produced.  Garvin has an interesting use of scale and materials with the giant metal head that takes hold of your eyes the minute you step into this show - very engaging.  The heads are sometimes in cast blue glass and they occupy a strategic place in the one sculpture above.  You could say that the little blue face is the apple of my eye, or something like that.

The total output from Garvin is very unexpected.  I knew his work from printmaking but not from this vantage point.  We all hope he gets the job he is seeking, and we know he will move forward and make a name for himself...

Dongyi Wu

at 

Beaver Gallery

R.I.T.

We walked over to see what Dongyi Wu had produced.  She was feverishly at work for the past month making all the pieces for this show.  All manner of wood carving, casting, welding - she does it all with a flair, and a smile.  These works are about the dreams she has,  and I think this artwork  will serve her well in the future as well as looking terrific here in the present.