Archive: Arts & Entertainment

Aurora, New York— The Wells College art department is proud to announce this year’s Senior Thesis Exhibition. The show consists of the culminating works of Wells’ senior visual art majors Julia LaCourse, Rachel Munford, Ashlyn Loomis and Ica Stolt, featuring works that range from paintings to photography, ceramics to wood sculpture, each piece promising to bend any preconceived notions of its craft. The public is invited to attend the opening reception in the String Room Gallery on Monday, May 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. where they will have the opportunity to meet and talk with the artists. The show will run through May 17, open by appointment.

Julia Lacourse of Massena, N.Y., works with oil on canvas, inspired by a semester spent studying oil painting in Italy. Influenced heavily by feminist theory, her work focuses on the imagined reactions of women who, viewed through the male gaze, are told to look and act a certain way. Stemming from commands given to women, such as “smile,” or “kiss me” or “don’t be a bitch,” the artist depicts facial features pulled and stretched by needle and thread.

Ashlyn Loomis of Pitcher, N.Y., crafted her thesis inspired by the horses she owns and the memories she creates with them. She uses color patterns in the horses’ hair to trigger certain memories, emotions and senses, each related to a specific animal. The result is ceramic three-dimensional pieces complimented by photographs of the horse’s hair. She encourages the viewer to recall what the hair feels like, perhaps triggering a memory or emotion in them as well.

Rachel Munford of Cobleskill, N.Y., combines photography with collage, including materials such as cardboard, acrylic paint and scrap fabric. Inspired by her semester abroad in Florence, she created a unique group of portraits, posing and framing her subjects in the style of Italian Renaissance portraiture. Using her family, friends and classmates as subject matter, Rachel employs an unapologetically sloppy aesthetic in order to visually demonstrate the fragile, ever-changing nature of relationships. This juxtaposition of style and materials displays the feelings she has towards each subject while still acknowledging that these bonds can be broken.

Ica Stolt of Fairport, N.Y., spent her senior year exploring sculptural practices and enjoying the challenges of three-dimensional world in her thesis. Using natural materials found in the surrounding woodlands, Ica constructed engaging sculptures that reflect her relationship with nature in the winter. In order to convey this relationship as one of pain and despondency but deep and unyielding love as well, Ica performs acts of violence upon each piece, representing raw hopelessness, before painstakingly adhering fine golden thread to show the devotional aspect of her bond with nature.

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