Four students presented their work at the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Senior Exhibition April 29. This marks the final chapter in their journeys at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater as they look to continue to use their artistic talents after graduation. This is the story of two students and what they presented.
One student, Carolyn Ellefson, provided a sculptural piece filled with symbolism. On the surface, it’s a pile of soil surrounded by shovels, but each shovel draw patterns from the displacement of insects. The metaphor is intended to draw comparisons to removing a part of yourself and letting go of your old identity.
Ellefson grew up in an artistic family with grandmothers who drew and quilted, so she drew inspiration from them at a young age.
Professor Teresa Faris also helped her see the purpose of creating art through a different lens.
“When I got in here, I was like, I just want to make art so it looks pretty,” Ellefson said. “Now I make art for a specific reason. It’s to talk about me and my experiences in life.”
She’s always enjoyed art and psychology, so there’s an overlap between the two in her work.
“The brain is a funny thing,” Ellefson said. “You can feel some way, and you don’t know why. It’s because it’s something ingrained in you by society, or it could be a chemical imbalance in your brain. It’s really interesting work and I feel like exploring that aspect would be very useful.”
The changes in the brain are what strike her the most.
“Things happen to you that change the way you think,” Ellefson said.
Ellefson seeks to investigate these changes more in future projects, but is just touching the surface levels through the visual of removing memories from the soil.
Upon graduation, Ellefson will apply for graduate school and hopes to get a master’s degree. She would like to work in the art industry for a while and eventually work up the ranks to an art professor.
The next student, Karina Pittro, created a blackboard of constellations and you can see them light up through the cylinders with holes that act as projectors. Spectators could play a matching game with these cylinders so they can easily recognize them in the night sky. After she found out there’s a total of 88 official constellations, she wanted to learn more about them, so she drew all of them.
Pittro has been drawing casually since she was a kid, but didn’t start investing in it until high school. She sees making art as a stress reliever and as something to do in her free time.
What keeps her motivated to continue is her fascination with all of the mediums.
“I love learning a little bit of everything,” Pittro said. “Whether it’s ceramics, sculpture, photography, jewelry making, I love seeing how many different techniques I can learn and do with them.”
The part she struggled most with before college was labeling the fine print. She previously didn’t know what an artist statement was, which encapsulates the name, the title of the piece, the date it was made, and a brief description. Adding these statements helps artists get their work recognized publicly.
After college, she anticipates taking on commissions. Things she’ll specialize in include jewelry, making roses out of cans, and pottery, but she would like to branch into as many outlets as possible.
The other BFA students graduating this semester are Jessica Lacki and Emily Gibson. They both drew several portraits of previous memories and personal anecdotes.
This was the last senior art exhibition of the semester, so all the artists made their final moments worthwhile by surrounding themselves with close friends and family.
