New College of Florida Presents 2018 Senior Thesis Art Show:
“On the Precipice | Transitions & Thresholds”
The New College of Florida Art Department is pleased to present the 2018 Senior Thesis Art Exhibition, entitled On the Precipice | Transitions & Thresholds.
The public is invited to meet the artists at an opening reception on Friday, April 13, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the College’s Isermann Gallery. Food and refreshments will be provided. The exhibit runs through May 11.
The annual thesis exhibition is the culmination of a year-long studio art research project. This year’s exhibition features installation, interactive work, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, and painting and reflects on diverse yet timely themes ranging from ecological stewardship, cultural identity, the ubiquity of the pharmaceutical industry, domestic abuse, post-apocalyptic renewal, and figurative drawing in the French Academic tradition.
This year’s exhibition includes students Sarah Bradicich, Olivia Forero, Zeyna Hadidi, James vonHollen, Rebecca Miles, and Ariel Sartori.
Aided by the construction of her brand, Sugarcoat, Bradicich utilizes the communicative power of printmaking as well as mixed media sculpture to illustrate the ubiquity of prescription medication within the corporate world. Employing the analogy of candy, Bradicich’s work evokes childhood nostalgia and the blind trust we place in the corporate branding of a leisurely lifestyle that is only a pill away.
Through sculpture and painting Forero highlights the peril of the Florida Everglades ecosystem as a result of anthropogenic causes. Integrating her training as an ecologist into many of her works, Forero uses different elements of scientific didacticism to raise an awareness for the Everglades and to inspire environmental stewardship.
Small creatures and abstracted organic patterns populate Hadidi’s sculptures, which explore human tendencies to sort, compare, and group information, and how these behaviors apply to contemporary social interactions with minorities. Hadidi’s use of bright colors and inviting forms allow for a celebratory view of difference in her exploration of Otherness in present-day Western society.
“Classical Realism: The New Avant-Garde” is a series of charcoal figure drawings in the French Academic style that advocates for art-as-craft over art-as-personal expression. In it, vonHollen employs supplemental sketches and props to teach viewers about classical drawing methods in the belief that a strong foundation in drawing is fundamental to making art.
Exploring several different genres and mediums, Miles creates an immersive installation set hundreds of years in the future that celebrates renewal out of destruction. The setting is the living space of her imagined character, Syl, who is able to travel through different timelines to experience and record this theme through her many drawings & writings, and also through her collection of found objects & plants.
Approaching the delicate yet controversial subject of relationship violence and abuse, Sartori uses a multimedia installation to explore the concept of a tainted memory and the issues involved with domestic violence. “Wounded,” Sartori’s installation, allows viewers to witness the physical and mental effects of the devastating amount of grief associated with domestic abuse.
The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.
New College Thesis Exhibition: On the Precipice | Transitions & Thresholds
Dates: April 13 – May 11
Opening Reception: Friday, April 13; 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Location: Isermann Gallery, New College of Florida (behind Sainer Auditorium, south of Ringling Museum)
Gallery Hours: Monday through Friday, noon to 5:00 p.m.
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Located in Sarasota, New College of Florida has educated students for lives of great achievement since its founding in 1960. As the State of Florida’s designated honors college, New College provides an exceptional undergraduate education that transforms students’ intellectual curiosity into personal accomplishment. The 110-acre beachfront campus is home to more than 800 students and 80 full-time faculty engaged in interdisciplinary research and collaborative learning. New College offers nearly 40 areas of concentration for undergraduates and a master’s degree program in Data Science.
