By Victor Mays
Artwork crafted by alumni was on display at Locklear Hall through September 9th. The pieces on display were created during the time that they were on campus. The artists featured were Allen Dew-Adorno, Joan Blackwell, Daphane Brown, Sabrina Doan, Leeanna Earp, Allison Rebecca Ellis, Iesha Ford, Lilly Fowler, Rachel Kearney, Emmanuel Manolukas, Jay Martinez, Karina McMillan, Daniel Ramirez-Lamos, Melanie Scrudder, Amber Tyler-Elliot, Patrick Wachtler and Kris Williams.
Some were recent graduates, but there were artists included who graduated 10 years ago. Many genres of art were on display such as prints of digital artworks, paintings, multimedia and engravings.
Many of the art pieces convey something personal to the artists. Jay Martinez’s piece “Skeletons in My Closet” shows a story of perseverance through life.
“My piece shows a person that is running on energy drinks,” Martinez said. “You know life is rough and you kind of have to embrace what’s going on and just get through it.”
Merging black culture with Greek myth, Daphane Brown captures a world that isn’t always seen from the perspective of African Americans. PN Image/Victor Mays
Daphne Brown’s work, “Luna’s Mist,” tells the story of Greek Mythology from the perspective of a black person. Brown’s piece depicts three women, hand drawn on a canvas. The woman in the middle seems to be wearing a crown. This shows the elegance and boldness of the black people that she was trying to convey.
“Usually, the stories of Greek mythology you hear have been whitewashed. I want to show black people of any age that we can be represented in these stories,” Brown said.
Rachel Kearney’s piece, “Changes,” was based off a song she heard called “Julia” by Jeremy Zucker.
“I wanted to make my art look like the girl in the music video. There were a lot of special effects in the video that inspired the look I was going for with the art,” Kearney said.
The alumni art exhibit is presented every two years.