[dropcap]R[/dropcap]arely can students, faculty, parents, and other members of the Kinkaid community be on the sandy beach beside Galveston’s Pleasure Pier in one instant and in the middle of a Korean dance the next, but so is the case with Kinkaid’s Senioritis. Senioritis, the annual art exhibit planned, created and featuring the senior artists, was revealed with a reception on April 10 and was on display through April 24. This year, 29 seniors participated in the visual arts exhibition, showcasing a variety of art mediums, including sculpting, painting, photography, ceramics, and mixtures of these as well such as mixed media.
In the first hallway (where Admissions and the School Store is located), the galleries feature a ceramics exhibit by Sophia Solé. A variety of plates, bowls, and vases of different sizes carefully rest on a wooden display shelf. Each piece is inspired by the sea, colored in hues of blues, greens, and other ocean colors. Solé, who has committed to Stanford in the fall for sailing, acknowledges that the open water has played a big role in her life. This can be seen in her artistic style.
A series of sculptures by William Wells share this first gallery. These sculptures include a startling piece in which an arm protruding from a broken mirror and a broken robot lying on the floor. Two wood sculptures, however, dominate the exhibit with their intricate and perfectly executed designs. Both feature seemingly perfect spirals of interconnected wood patterns that captivate passersby.
“I just wanted to make something jaw-dropping, something that makes everybody say ‘wow!’” Wells said.
The second gallery in the same hall presents an impressively immense collection of ceramics by Tommy Ereli and Emmy Heyser. Behind two tables featuring Ereli’s bright intricately-painted plates and trays and Heyser’s wheel-thrown bowls, the wall displays Abby Greenbaum’s collection of drawings exploring the common theme of the body.
On the other side of the recital hall, works by Sarah Fullenwider, Avery Hartwell, and Whitney Burke share the gallery across from the nurse’s office. Fullenwider’s collection depicts a fashion studio, portraying the complicated steps in the clothes-making process including sketches of dresses, fabric samples, and even a mannequin dressed in the beginnings of an outfit.
Another gallery features exhibits by Kat Smith, Chris Choi, and Kcenia Kloesel. Choi’s exhibit includes a series of paintings inspired by Pungmul Nori, a Korean musical and dance performance. This musical heavily relies on percussion accented by high pitched brass instruments. The dance which accompanies this music features performers dancing in a circle while rotating ribbons attached to their hats. Flowing brush strokes connecting the central people to their rotating ribbons flood the canvases of all 14 pieces, and some only rely one color over the white canvas while others depict multiple bright colors with hardly any white at all.
“I tried to emulate the movement and sound through line quality and color,” Choi explains.
Various grouped pieces adorn the walls of the halls in between galleries. These pieces range from a wood sculpture by Rahul Popat to paintings by Ellie Nakfoor.
Perhaps the most expansive exhibit is the the photography section which dominates the walls in the Kinkaid School lobby and includes work from Hannah Barden, Emmy Reckling, Marie Atmar, and many others. These photographs include varieties of landscapes, portraits, and numerous others. When students, faculty, and guests walk through the lobby, their eyes immediately fall on a captivating landscape photograph of Galveston’s Pleasure Pier by Robin Kate Davis. Another set of photographs by Hannah Chambers depicts two human bodies consisting of different body parts from different people of all different shapes, sizes, and skin tones. This piece originally debuted during health week as a commentary on health and body image.
Senioritis represents one final shine for student artists to display their art to which they have dedicated months, and the entire Kinkaid community enjoys their art one final time before their artistic career at Kinkaid comes to an end.
