Photo Courtesy of Alyssa Lester

By: Sherlyn Ong

The Sarofim School of Fine Arts’ Art and Art History Department will be presenting a Senior Art Exhibit featuring works of Alyssa Lester ’16 and Forrest Aderholt ’16. The Senior Art Exhibit is an opportunity for students to have a full exhibit experience, which includes preparing all their artwork and putting them up.

The two seniors both have different themes for their art work that they have completed over their senior year. (Lester has also chosen to include a single piece from her junior year).

Lester’s theme is “Guts.”

“It’s a collection of abstractions that I have been working on and developing over the years,” she said. “They are mostly organic shapes and a lot of it tackles the issues of abstraction being a very self-involved process. A lot of the shapes are from things that I feel from within me and kind of develop over time.”

Lester also shares that she is exploring the world of abstract art and developing in the artform while searching for the truth to abstraction.

“This is the beginning of my journey as an abstract artist and I would like people to see the beginning of this lifelong journey,” Lester shares.

Meanwhile, Aderholt’s theme surrounds the idea of modernity.

“When the European nations started to colonize back in the 1600s,” he explains, “they imposed Christianity and their idea of modernity, which was basically Eurocentric views that white Christian men were above all.” His art looks at the new global culture of the post-colonial era and how the hierarchy that the western world imposed upon the rest of the world has started to break down with the introduction of the internet and various other modern aspects.

Aderholt also works with abstract art. However, his art is not an illustration of his ideas (like Lester’s is) but art that is informed by those ideas. He explains that he thinks about his topic, modernity, while painting to inspire himself.

“I think the most important thing that I’ve learned is to let go and not treat art like it’s this precious baby that can’t be hurt,” Aderholt shares. “If I mess up, I can just paint over it. Usually when you let go and just experiment, the best things tend to happen. Accidental marks are sometimes the most beautiful marks of the whole piece.”

Both students would like to thank Professors Kristen Van Patten and Victoria Star Varner, and Aderholt would like to thank Professor Mary Visser.

The exhibit will be on display March 3-10 in the Fine Arts Gallery, with a reception on Thursday, March 3 from 4-6 pm. Both are free and open to the public. Lester and Aderholt will be present during the reception so drop by to learn more about their pieces.