On March 28, Jae Williams, Katherine Arnold, and Ellie Headrick, held their opening reception for their senior art exhibitions. This free event was held from 5-6:30 p.m. in the Fine Arts Gallery and included art, snacks and enlightening conversations with the artists.
At UT Martin, students who major in studio art and art education take a senior exhibition class, requiring them to submit 12-15 pieces of their best artwork. This can range from a series of paintings to ceramics to fiber art. The student often chooses their strongest medium and curate their displays from there.
Jae, a studio art major, presented a collection of vibrant oil paintings with deep messages and clever titles called “The Reality Is….” His “surrealistic works” give his audience a slightly trippy viewing experience as the paintings’ subjects tend to visually jump off the canvas and tell a story.
Most of Jae’s art is a reflection of him. In fact, he said self portraiture was purposeful to his work’s context. It further enhances his painting’s identity or themes it is intended to relay. Overall, he pours his emotions into his work as it fuels his creativity.
One painting in particular, Big Red, brings about a whirlwind of sentiments. Regarding the piece, Jae stated, “I definitely used some of my own struggles to help generalize to the audience the experience of not only being human but being a young Black man in the inner city.” In the painting, he honors his grandfather, “Big Red.”
Jae describes painting as his first love. His favorite piece in the exhibit is Everything is Perfect When the World Ends which illustrates “this interesting stagnancy we have when we love someone for too long and over experience them.” It portrays the feeling of being stuck in familiarity.
His art style isn’t confined into a box and neither is he. After graduation, he plans to stretch his creativity into varying career fields. These senior exhibitions serve as practice for what an art career may entail.
