SXU's Art & Design students unveil year-long projects
Throughout each academic year, students prepare and execute assignments based on various deadlines within each semester. However, for Saint Xavier University (SXU) Art & Design senior students, their "deadline" has spanned across the entire year. In tribute to their year-long deadline, SXU will host its next exhibit installation entitled, "Legends of the Seven," from April 8 through May 3 in the Art Gallery located on SXU's Chicago campus, 3700 West 103rd Street. This exhibit is free and open to the public!
At the beginning of the academic year, each senior Art & Design student was assigned the task of creating a body of visual work focusing upon a theme of their choice and in a media of their choice. The wide range of topics that comprise the show encompass the realms of mental health; language; imagination; relaxation; sexism; communication; and Chicago's ever-growing gun violence. Exhibition planning and installation in the Art Gallery provides seniors with a true-to-life professional career experience, while culminating their academic Art & Design studies at SXU.
The following students will be featured in this exhibit installation:
- Asha Black, Chicago resident, explores therapeutic qualities of art and how the creative process is a meditative tool through acrylic paint, inks, and colored pencils.
- Autumn Cano, Park Forest resident, draws a connection between spoken words and animation in a series of videos.
- Giselle Villasenor, Orland Park resident, showcases the oppression of women artists by removing key features from their portraits.
- Heather Kaminski, Alsip resident, expresses her experience with depression and recovery in a short film entitled, "DARK."
- Kalea Phillips, South Holland resident, aims to foster imagination and creativity in children with an original storybook about dragons, created in Photoshop and InDesign.
- Kolin Smith, Park Forest resident, takes the audience on a journey of abstract communication using pencils, paper, and computers.
- Kyeara Aikens, Chicago resident, displays the dehumanization of victims of gun violence in Chicago with a mixture of drawings, newspaper clippings and acrylic paint.
SXU's Art Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday; noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. For more information, please visit SXU's website.