Fall 2020 Bachelor of Fine Arts Solo Exhibitions

BFA Exhibition week November 30-December 4, 2020

Sara Alfieri

In my most recent works, I have become infatuated with creating various sets of interactive cups and holders. The motifs of my forms and surfaces, along with how I construct them are influenced by shape psychology, postmodern architecture, and the nuances of relationships. How the visual language of specific shapes present various ideas to the human brain intrigues me. I find the circular shape that is embodied by a cup to reference the cycle of life and community, while the idea of a square or rectangle to imply a sense of balance and security. The circular likeness of the holder reinforces this idea of community among the cups. It also acts as their foundation, creating a space of function and interaction, similar to the space architects produce for human fulfillment. The process of throwing forms, cutting away parts and adding alternative slab forms is a metaphor for how people continually come in and out of our lives as time moves forward. This metaphor is strengthened by the users’ interaction with the piece.

Creating functional pottery for the home has served purpose in my life as a form of personal investigation and type of meditation. It forces me to slow down and enjoy the pleasure of labor. A kind of labor that results in a form that will eventually connect my hand to the users’, creating, yet again, a new relationship. Through a visual, tactile, and utilitarian experience, I hope for my functional pottery to offer a similar moment of play, relief, and investigation within my viewers/users lives.

Hannah Songer

Prior to current social distancing controls, modern romance and platonic friendships have many nuances of communication. I want to make paintings that converge technology and physical means of connection. Text messages and webcams may have replaced hand letters and photographs, but they carry the same emotional weight. Love letters, break up texts, spam emails, and read receipts, all affect those who are sending or receiving.

This summer I made a playlist that referenced windows. The window became a trope of connection and reunion. I am currently interested in extracting patterns from my indoor and outdoor life into drawings and paintings. Phone screens, notebook paper, basketball backboards, and sidewalks are surfaces that I use for touch and play in my daily life. I draw from memory of textures, patterns, and shapes that reference the environment I inhabit. I am curious about how much personal history is left in the environments we share.