TWU School of the Arts, Media + Culture Senior Studio class celebrates the culmination of their recent years of artistic practice and personal growth with an art exhibition featuring individual bodies of work. The three-part exhibition, Untitled, features eighteen student artists and designers whose works tell stories that encourage viewers to empathy and curiosity.
Untitled is a show in three parts, held in the SAMC Gallery at TWU’s Norma Marion Alloway Library from March 20 - April 29, 2023.
Show I
- March 20 - 30, 2023
- Opening reception & artist talks: March 30 at 6:15 p.m.
Show II
- April 3 - 13, 2023
- Open reception & artist talks: April 13 at 6:15 p.m.
Show III
- April 17 - 29, 2023
- Opening reception & artist talks: April 20 at 6:15 p.m.
The SAMC Gallery is open during library hours.
About Untitled
With words by Riley Wiebe and Zaeya Winter.
From ethereal costumed silverfish to a room full of painted eyes, Untitled incorporates a multiplicity of styles, subject matter, and media.
The ethos behind “un-titling” is an effort to embrace an individual’s unique perspectives unrestricted by labels. This is achieved as each artist communicates a personal standpoint that challenges viewers to see through a fresh lens. Both playful and sombre, this exhibition represents many facets of experience, allowing for differences to coexist and interact.
Untitled exhibits the work of eighteen student artists and designers whose work employs media such as yarn, envelopes, digital drawings, video, paint, and beads to create their work. Each artist employs unique materials and mark-making practices to investigate this year’s theme. The artworks use storytelling to contemplate different perspectives; viewers are invited to question oversimplified beliefs at an emotional level. The exhibition seeks to leave the audience with renewed empathy and curiosity about unfamiliar practices. Untitled encourages meditation on one’s relationship to self, the other, and the divine.
Show I runs from March 20 - 30, featuring Chelsea Bradshaw, Jenna Neumann, Amelia Thorpe, May Li, and Mei Zou.
Beginning from a place of silence and prayer, Chelsea Bradshaw’s work is rooted in Scripture, capturing a feeling of peace and protection like Psalm 23. Her work holds space for the viewers to have quiet contemplative moments, calling them to pause and be still.
Jenna Neumann uses the art form of abstract painting to explore the complexities of shape, colour and form. Each of her compositions is constructed to evoke a curiosity in the viewer; alluding to familiar spaces, memory, and sensory experiences.
Amelia Thorpe explores feminist discourses around craft and labour through her delicate handiwork. Her works delve into her Romani heritage by merging traditional craft techniques and contemporary art practices.
May Li uses fibre art to create an emotional "landscape". Expressing different feelings through the colourful wool, the different abstract shapes and textures form a visual language that speaks to the viewer's emotions.
Mei Zou is curious to visualize this leading question within her work: “how do you get along with the voice in your head?” Working digitally and tacitly, Mei visualizes her own thought processes through lines, aiming to express her experience of thought.
Show II runs from April 3 - 13, featuring MM, Zaeya Winter, Tianyu Zhu, Eva (Yixin) Zhang, Mina (Sijia) Lu, and Evelyn (Yulan) Xie
MM’s passion for painting and videography finds powerful expression in this work. Concerned with themes of political and cultural tension, she specifically gives voice to the struggle for freedom in the Middle East. She uses performance, text, and colour to tell the truth about historical and ongoing injustices in the country she calls home.
Spotlighting silverfish in speculative storytelling, Zaeya Winter’s work uses performance, sound, and video to imagine a world where insects are upheld and celebrated in rituals of becoming-with. Through costume and dance she embodies these connections between the human and more-than-human realms.
Playing with elements of random interaction, Tianyu Zhu creates a collection of illustrative fineline drawings on envelopes. Curious about the different purposes and themes of drawing, Tianyu uses envelopes as vessels of travelling information to carry his playful experiments.
Eva (Yixin) Zhang’s work takes the form of an immersive installation, tackling the challenges of mental health. Surrounded by many gazing eyes, Eva transports the viewer into an experience of being watched or scrutinized—hoping to illuminate what life is like for people living with social anxiety.
Reimagining traditional Chinese window grilles, Mina (Sijia) Lu works with perler beads to bring new perspectives to Chinese culture. Each window pattern is designed based on personal experiences and observations of how Chinese New Year celebrations have changed over generations with the arrival of new media and technologies.
Evelyn (Yulan) Xie tackles beauty ideals in a subversive and powerful way. Her photographic work and series of sculpted masks use makeup to comment on the unspoken pressures and standards within the industry.
Show III, April 17 - 29, finishes the exhibition off with the works of Lucia Li, Simon Shackelford, Janelle Ryan, Riley Wiebe, Henry Li, Anna Tamblyn, and Emmalie Krusenstjerna.
Lucia Li’s design work focuses on creating a new label, menu, and wine-tasting experience for her family’s winery. Lucia’s interactive project aims to improve customer experience and showcase new possibilities for designing wine tastings.
Simon Shackelford’s illustrated children’s book captures both the whimsical and silly. On the surface, this poetic story follows a boy on his quest to befriend a platypus, while a deeper look shows the boy’s pursuit of his curiosity for the unknown.
Janelle Ryan’s text-based installation invites the viewer to encounter the stories of unvaccinated people in the last couple of years. By sharing their perspectives, Janelle hopes to rehumanize those who have been dehumanized, raise questions, and explore how we can come together in community and dialogue moving forward.
Riley Wiebe uses abstract painting as a form of prayer. Her vibrant sculptural painting makes reference to thought processes by layering meaning-filled words until they are no longer legible, only a colour field of shapes and patterns.
Coming from a traditional art background, Henry Li’s mixed media series breaks out of this mold and incorporates more casual, contemporary, and abstract elements. Forming connections between humans and nature, Henry experiments with line and shape to draw inferences between the body and natural structures.
Inspired by illuminated manuscripts, Anna Tamblyn’s hand-written text illuminates the biblical story of Esther. The work focuses on honouring the ancient practice while embracing human imperfection in her work. Through her manuscript, she creates a dialogue between her experience and the story of Esther.
In her painted wall mural, Emmalie Krusenstjerna presents her personal reflection on the journeys she has encountered in her day-to-day life through imaginative map-making and explorative line. The journey of the individual is the focus of her work: she invites the viewer to reflect on their own journey as she reflects on hers.
About TWU's School of the Arts, Media, and Culture
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About Trinity Western University
Founded in 1962, Trinity Western University is a global Christian liberal arts university. We are dedicated to equipping students to discover meaningful connections between career, life, and the needs of the world. Drawing upon the riches of the Christian tradition, seeking to unite faith and reason through teaching and scholarship, Trinity Western University is a degree-granting research institution offering liberal arts and sciences as well as professional schools in business, nursing, education, human kinetics, graduate studies, and arts, media, and culture. It has four locations in Canada: Langley, Richmond-Lansdowne, Richmond-Minoru, and Ottawa. Learn more at www.twu.ca or follow us on Instagram @trinitywestern, Twitter @TrinityWestern, on Facebook and LinkedIn.