Senior thesis exhibits to open April 3

The 2016-17 Bing-Davis Memorial Gallery artists’ schedule concludes with a thesis series featuring the works of Upper Iowa University seniors Sarah Pisney, Kelsey Hinrichs, Jamie Vargason, Morgan LaRue, Elizabth Nation, Carly Harms and Isaiah Solheim.

“We are excited to have each of these student exhibitions coming to Bing-Davis Gallery,” said Laura Colby, UIU assistant professor of art. “I truly believe visitors will be amazed at the thoughtful, engaging work that these students have created over the past year.”

The Pisney and Hinrichs exhibits will be open to the public during regular gallery hours Monday, April 3 – Thursday, April 13. A reception for the two UIU art education majors is scheduled from 4 – 6 p.m. at Bing-Davis Gallery on Tuesday, April 11.

The UIU Senior Thesis exhibits will continue with Vargason unveiling her artwork during a reception from 6 – 8 p.m. on Friday, April 21. The 2017 Senior Thesis art shows conclude with LaRue, Nation, Harms and Solheim showcasing their works April 19 – May 6. Additional details on these five senior exhibits will be announced at a later date.

The April 3 – April 13 senior thesis exhibits are as follows:

Sarah Pisney

“How Many More?”

Sarah Pisney was born in Rochester, Minnesota, and grew up in Northeast Iowa. A recipient of the 2017 UIU Baldwin Memorial Award in Art, Pisney has been an active member of the University’s Education Club. She also served as a lead teacher in the local UIU Saturday Art Program. Currently residing in Protivin, Iowa, Pisney recently accepted an art teaching position with North Fayette Valley High School in West Union, Iowa.

“I have always believed that art can be used as a tool to persuade and move people,” said Pisney. “The artwork I created, and the underlying meanings of the artwork, is my attempt to persuade people towards and enforce my belief that we can no longer ignore the circumstances within Syria.”

“The war in Syria is not solely black and white, and somewhere within the gray areas of the war, innocent lives are lost,” she continued. “My exhibit focuses on those innocent lives. More specifically, the children. Statistics show that of the 470,000 people killed in Syria thus far, 50,000 are children. These statistics state that nine children die in Syria every day due to the war. The question I propose is, how many more? How many more innocent children must be killed in order for people to truly realize the severity of what is happening in Syria?”

Kelsey Hinrichs

“Light Texture Color”

Kelsey Hinrichs’ art exhibit is an exploration into the contemporary elements of design. She explained that the installation piece is completely made of coffee filters in wire that will be suspended from the gallery’s ceiling. The lighting will be altered to create emphasis on the texture created by stacking the coffee filters. Meanwhile, her paintings are an exploration of color and emotions. Lastly, the sculpture is made completely out of yarn to play with the lighting of her subject.

“The idea behind my installation, paintings, and sculpture is to generate emotions from my viewers by focusing on three elements of design – lighting, color, and texture,” said the Swisher, Iowa, artist. “I hope my show will engage my viewer to stop and explore my entire piece and get an emotional response from it. By having this emotional response, I want the viewer to appreciate art on a fundamental level.”

Hinrichs served as a student-teacher in the K-12 art program at Starmont School District during spring 2017. She also served as a head teacher at Sacred Heart Art Club in Oelwein, Iowa, and the local Saturday Art Program. A member of UIU Education Club, Kappa Zeta Tau and UIU’s Peacock for Progress, Hinrichs is an active community volunteer. She has provided her time and services to University of Iowa Children’s Hospital, Fayette Appreciation Day, Special Olympics, Northeast Iowa High School Art Show and Starmont EWALU Camp.

Bing-Davis Memorial Gallery is located in the Edgar Fine Arts Hall at UIU’s Fayette Campus. The gallery’s regular hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.