SHENECA SHARPE
Staff Writer
Art Forum and Illustration Club held their first art exhibit recently at Kasia Coffee. This exhibit was meant to show the community of Fredonia the hard work that Fredonia students put in this semester.
The exhibit had a variety of art to show: illustration, photography, graphic art and much more.
It showed the vast variety of media used in the art to capture the message or moment the artists wanted the public to see and, hopefully, experience as well. One of the pieces showed a hibiscus. The artist, Anna Gilmore, decided to illustrate this flower to capture a moment when it bloomed in the middle of winter.
“The hibiscus is my mother’s plant back at home. She really loved it; it was a birthday gift she received. It had just bloomed and it was in the middle of the winter, and I kinda wanted to catalog that moment,” Gilmore, a senior majoring in illustration and sculpture.
Some of the art pieces had a more solemn feel to them. One piece by Sarah Reimer showed the mold of a person underneath a sheet curled up in an almost fetal position. Most people, when asked about it, thought it was about suffocation in a relationship or anxiety. It was an interesting piece that showed how there can be so many interpretations. An artist can connect with almost everyone in one way or another.
“The way that I work with my pieces is with something personal to me, then throughout the constructing the piece the context change,” said Reimer, a junior double major in graphic design and sculpture. “This piece was about me and my boyfriend at first, but then it ended up being something about trust and intimate relationships, which is represented by the mold of the person and the sheet.”
The artists’ perspectives shone a new light on what they wanted their art to represent, and comparing that with the audience’s perspectives gave new meaning to many of the pieces.
“I really like Sarah’s piece because it reminded me of multiple artists’ styles, and I really enjoyed being able to see that in person,” said Natalie Sacchitella, a freshman art major.
For students who have never seen the business side of art exhibitions and showcases, it gave a new outlook on the other side of creating art. This was also an opportunity to show different types of styles that the artists haven’t done at all or in a very long time.
“A lot of my work is based digitally, so I don’t really get a chance to show a lot of the traditional stuff I’ve held on for a long time,” said Gilmore.
Kasia Coffee, a small cafe tucked away in Fredonia, is a hidden gem and was the perfect venue for the exhibition. In the front was the cafe portion where you could order food or coffee and then go into the back room and enjoy all the spectacular art on display. It created a comfortable environment for the community to enjoy everything Kasia had to offer.
It was an amazing night filled with great food, good coffee and, most importantly, beautifully displayed art.