Thursday, April 2nd marked the Spring 2026 B.A. Senior Art Exhibition hosted in the Sarofim Fine Arts Gallery. As the title suggests, this is where graduating Fine Arts majors get one of their final spotlights before graduating from Southwestern University. I reached out to these seven artists to get a deeper understanding of their work, and let me just say, their talent amazes me. 

Megaphone’s own Christopher Bowers combines history, the environment, and color into a gallery that viewers could spend hours looking at. Chris was greatly influenced by his travels in Europe, and the historical places he visited. He starts his process with abstract lines, and over time, his pieces transform into the ones we know today. He describes his work as a “realistic world in a fantastical setting” with the use of color, and elements like floating cherries, serpents in walls, and bugs walking down hallways.  

Sophie Kinkade transports viewers into a teenage girl’s Y2K bedroom fantasy. Brightly colored and flashy canvases line the wall in a way that feels like a teenage girl should be jumping on her bed and singing into a hairbrush. She uses a technique called “spill art” which is where the artist throws paint at a canvas and the paint lands where it may. By using this method, Sophie embraces the fluidity of art. 

Trinidad Laurenzi’s work focussed on the uncanny and the uncomfortable feelings many people get in the Catholic church. They look into the treatment of women in the Bible, and how they are divided by being either pure or having a madonna-whore complex. By using body horror, Trinidad uses these characters as a reflection of themself, and how they are viewed by the church. Trinidad invites viewers to be uncomfortable, because they have lived with this uncomfortability. They use varying techniques, including painting with their hands, to create different textures that add to the grotesque look they’re going for. This series deconstructs the conservative Christianity that the U.S. has been built upon, all while making the viewer sit in their uncomfortability. 

Maeve Lloyd’s sculptural work utilizes textures in ways that are rarely seen. Her work invites us to think about objects and the memories that surround them. These textures combined with bright colors make viewers question what domestic really means, and where the line is drawn. In Maeve’s work, oddness isn’t just embraced, it’s required. 

Aris Morgan’s work is inspired by the style of anime and manga being described as “low quality art”. He questions why western culture has an uncomfortability surrounding anime as art. Aris plays with the difference between sharpness and drama, versus softness and subtlety. He invites viewers to ask themselves what makes art worthy of displaying.  

Grace Sapienza uses art as a way of healing and expression. Most of her work starts without a plan, and she lets the methodical process of layering paint guide her work. She invites viewers to look into the emotion behind art, and think about more than what is visually appealing. 

Isa Wilson draws her biggest artistic inspiration from her own disorders and personal struggles. Her works that use charcoal as a medium display the darkness and despair that surrounds depression, where her pieces using color symbolize the light at the end of the tunnel. Isa wants to use her artistic talent to bring awareness to the stigmas surrounding mental health, and uses her vulnerability to connect to the viewer.  

I encourage you all to check out these artist’s work in the gallery before the 16th, you won’t regret it. As for all of the amazing artists, I wish you luck on your future endeavors. Just remember that you will always #besouthwestern.