The art department has left no stone unturned this year with its various exhibitions held. In the fall, Kimber Keene ‘25 held her solo exhibition called “A Fed Gator is a Dead Gator” where she explored ideas of human interaction with nature, specifically alligators and humans.
The next exhibition was the “Hot Now” student exhibition which included works from students of all academic fields and years of studies. The artworks featured range from familiar mediums such as painting, drawing and ceramics and technology-powered digital fabrications.
The current exhibition being held in the Richardson Family Art Gallery is aptly named “Threshold and Traces,” a senior exhibition with art works from Kimber Keene ‘25, Mariella Stine ‘25, Caroline Johnson ‘25 and Eric Harris ‘25. The faculty member behind this exhibition is Dr. Jesscia Scott-Felder, associate professor of studio art.
Harris ‘25, a studio art major, created a piece that explores the relationship between martial arts and its relationship with Black culture.
“I tried to convey the movements one sees in different types of martial arts, like taekwondo and karate,” Harris said.
Harris shared a memory behind the work and acknowledged how Wofford’s interdisciplinary coursework helped to shape his signature as an artist.
“There was a professor named Dr. Henkel who taught philosophy and taekwondo on campus. I attended both his Asian philosophy and martial arts class and noticed a relationship between the two,” Harris said. “I felt more at peace with the world around me”
When asked about how much it means to him to have his work displayed in a showcase dedicated to his class year, Harris expressed immense gratitude and a sense of pride.
“It means a lot because of how much effort, time and practice it took going from freshman year all the way to senior year. It’s good to see your progress pay off,” Harris said.
Stine ‘25, a studio art and Spanish double major with a creative writing minor, has three pieces on display, two of the pieces being drawings and the third, a painting. Her main focus was taking elements from both of her backgrounds as a Puerto Rican and with a home in Georgia and how these two places can coexist.
“I thought about a lot of symbols of Georgia and one of things I encapsulate in my pictures is a frog, called Cokey,” Stine said. “It’s a symbol of Puerto Rico because my grandparents have always talked about it. Growing up when we would visit them, we could hear them at night,” Stine said.
Stine and Harris can agree that their journey going from freshmen to seniors has been a challenging, yet rewarding one.
“Threshold and Traces” is about the bits and pieces of identity that these seniors resonate with the most and crossing boundaries. An artist talk for this exhibition took place on May 8 to commemorate the seniors in their final projects and toasts to their Wofford careers.
