By Tucker Paquette
@tpaquette17
Before five Springfield College seniors say goodbye to Alden Street, their art work has been highlighted in a gallery titled “Thoughts in Motion”.
The display, located on the second floor of Blake Hall from April 14-25, featured the work of Jesika Garay, Imran Lamhader, Haley Livesay, Michael Ott and Amanda Simpson.
All five seniors are students in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, and they produced a variety of pieces including drawings, paintings and even digitally formatted art.
Everyone had different ideas for what they wanted to contribute to the gallery, and that was clear in the end result – a diverse blend of designs and styles.
“I think the most valuable part of it all was how we all had different interpretations of how we wanted to represent our own personality in our pieces,” Garay said. “For instance, some of us are graphic designers, some of us are art therapy majors, and some of us are more art-based.”
Garay was also struck by the artists’ ability to work together while ensuring they all maintained a sense of creative freedom.
“Seeing how we all collectively had similar visions, we all knew how to collaborate with each other without overstepping each other’s comfortability within our own mediums, I think it was cool to see how we were able to work together,” Garay said.
Garay had a few pieces in the exhibit, including a hanging car door and a pen. Garay had different motivations for each of these pieces, with a common denominator being forming a connection with those who will view the art.
“I feel like having a visual component enhances the meaning more, and I always loved interactive installations,” Garay said. “So that piece [the car door] is interactive for people to touch and place their name on the back of the door.”
“For the pen that I made, that was more specific on immigration, how it’s a huge topic being discussed right now,” Garay added. “And how it’s affecting a lot of people in the Hispanic community, as their families probably are going through similar situations or being affected by it.”
As far back as their freshman year, Garay and company knew they would have the chance to be in a display ahead of graduation. While they had ample time to consider the art they wanted to create, nailing down exactly what they wanted to do was nonetheless a process.
For Ott, deciding on and executing his main project for the exhibit represents the artistic strides he’s made during his time at Springfield.
“Art has been this really interesting journey where I came into it my second year, and I really had to try and pull myself out of my own creative tendencies and just not really knowing what to create,” Ott said. “Being able to all of a sudden be in this gallery show, working on stuff that I never even thought I could. There’s a lot of really interesting, intricate moving parts that mean a lot to actually be able to create.”
Ott’s primary design was his own brand layout, complete with a website and animations that he created from scratch. Ott used a design program for this, but he still encountered challenges learning how to use the website.
Ultimately, though, Ott was able to put together a project that he’s proud of, with the gallery being a prime chance for him to showcase his work to the campus community.
“I enjoyed the whole process of it, and then seeing the end of it, being able to scroll through and see a demo, it just made me feel really good,” Ott said.
(Photo by Tucker Paquette/The Student)