By Mathew Shaw/se news editor
The works of SE studio art students are now displayed in Art Corridor I, including paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics.
The exhibition, called Studio Details, runs until April 30.
SE student Melissa Downey hopes her works will benefit her charitable organization.
“I’m in the process of starting a nonprofit for the raped and the abused,” she said. “It’s called Help Me Help You Help Others.”
Her first work of art features a jumble of words in different colors and fonts along with criss-crossing silver lines.
“With bold letters, we have everything that someone could say to hurt you,” she said, explaining her piece’s symbolism. The “prettier letters,” she said, represent “positive things you could say to a person.” The silver lines “show the silver lining between good and bad.”
Her second piece features three things stacked on top of each other: thick horizontal bars in front, thinner oblique lines in the middle and picturesque scenes of nature in the back.
“The bold lines in the front represent hurdles that everyone must go through in life,” she said. The silver and gold bars behind the bold lines “represent jailhouse bars that stand between these hurdles. Once you get through this fence and those hurdles, you reach a more peaceful environment.”
Downey does sculptures, ceramics and paintings, including one painting she is currently entering into a scholarship competition.
“Just about everything I do, anything I sell, I take at least half of that and put it aside to put toward my organization,” she said.
A sculpture of a black headless torso rests on a pedestal in the corridor. Juxtaposed against the black bust is a white heart on the chest and a pair of white wings. This sculpture, called Erebus Argelos (which is Greek for “dark angel”) was created by SE student Bre Ferrara.
The protruding ribs on the torso are made of ruffled newspapers, which Ferrara said represents the world. The ashy look of the sculpture represents the body becoming engulfed in temptation. However, if one stays true to their heart, “we can be clean and free and do the right things,” she said.
“I’m a Christian, and I find that angel wings are very light,” she said. “You can be surrounded by darkness but can be lifted by the light.”
SE student Angela Barrera had a rendition of “The Enchanted Mill” by Franz Marc displayed.
“I did the backgrounds first, and since it’s a cubist piece, I had to put some lines in,” she explained. “If you don’t put those in first, then you pretty much end up with a blurred pattern. The waterfall was the last thing to go on because it’s the dominant feature.”
Barrera said this is her first time having her art displayed at TCC.
“It’s kind of awesome, but when you see people looking at it, you feel kind of vulnerable,” she said. “When you’re walking down the hall and someone’s standing at your piece, they don’t know the person behind the name, they can just say anything.”
