Dozens of Shippensburg University students, parents, alumni and community members arrived at the Kauffman Gallery in Huber Art Center on March 3 to experience the 2013 SU Student Art Exhibition.
A variety of visual art media, including photography, paintings, sculptures, pottery and intricate pencil sketches created a successful turnout for this year’s exhibition. Shippensburg University art students showcased their original pieces in Room 201 of the Kauffman Gallery.
Several artists displayed their work as for sale and available to the public.
Several oil paintings were shown among the 37 art pieces, including “Yoruba Drummer” by Olusegun Adegboyega-Edun and “Destroyer” by Hannah Kunce.
When explaining the background to her painting, Kunce said, “Persephone is a story from Greek mythology.”
“Destroyer” depicted the Greek mythological goddess Persephone, who was the queen of the underworld and the wife of Hades. Relevant to the myth, the goddess is shown holding a pomegranate.
After Persephone was abducted by Hades and dragged into the underworld, her mother Demeter refused to let the crops of the earth grow until her daughter was returned.
Because the girl had tasted the pomegranate seeds, which were the food of Hades, she was forced to forever spend a part of the year with her husband in the underworld. According to the myth, this was why the earth flowers in the spring become barren in the winter.
When asked where she found inspiration for her painting, Kunce explained, “It spoke from emotions that were part of my life that are difficult to explain.”
Other examples of the hard work of Shippensburg art students were shown in different art styles including photography and sculptures.
A particularly moving photography piece by Samantha Wood titled, “Society’s Image,” included three photographs of a young woman awaiting plastic surgery.
Drawings on the woman’s face highlighted features that she found undesirable and alluded to the negative impact that society has on body image.
The 2013 Student Art Exhibition will be on display in Kauffman Gallery until March 28. The gallery is open to students and the public Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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