On March 20th, the opening night of the 51st Senior Undergraduate Exhibition for the Department of Fine Arts was held at the UW Art Gallery. The exhibit, Sonder, showcases the creativity of the Fine Arts graduating class in all types of media. Although this wouldn’t be a place you might expect to find STEM students, we stopped by after our classes on opening night.
Now you might be thinking, why would a physics student and an engineering student be going to an art show? Especially if any of you know us, in which case you’d know that at least one of us is not good at art whatsoever. Well, we happen to have a good friend in Fine Arts who was one of the artists featured in the exhibit. So even though we spend our days essentially being human calculators who know nothing about art, we were happy to go and support her.
In a statement from the Fine Arts class, they shared that they “have united to create an exhibition that beautifully weaves together individual stories within a common ground. Each narrative works to portray the only true universal experience: life.” The exhibit includes paintings, sculptures, prints, and everything in between, each sharing a story unique to the artist’s vision. The artists have worked all year on their pieces.
Discussing her experience putting together her piece Hidden in Plain Sight, artist Kady Buchanan said, “The thesis exhibition is something the Fine Arts department sees every year of the program, but as a fourth year student it’s an exciting opportunity to showcase my work in a gallery setting. Although leading up to the show can be daunting, as it is intensive to prepare the projects we have spent months creating for the exhibition, the results showcase the dedication we students put into our work. I am grateful for the opportunity to have been involved in a wonderful show and excited to see not only where it takes me, but my cohort’s future in fine arts.”
Our favourite pieces from the night consisted of Hidden In Plain Sight by our lovely friend Kady Buchanan (okay, we’re a bit biased), as well as Refracted World by Lily Lebinger, Beyond the Frame by Antong (Ann) Tang, Princess and the Pea by Sandra Teppo, and All That I Am by Isabelle Trask. Honourable mentions go to two artists who drew a juice box of VLT black tea and a scientific calculator that we saw on our way to the exhibit (see, a calculator – still something for us STEM folks to enjoy!).
Overall, we had a great experience at the exhibit and it was a nice reminder that UW also has a creative side. It was eye-opening to see all the art and the proud artists talking about their work on opening night, and we both enjoyed going to support them.
Sonder runs until April 5th at the UW Art Gallery (and if you had no idea the UW Art Gallery existed until you read this article, it’s in ECH, aka the building right beside E6). Take a break from looking at numbers or code and go check it out!
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