Spiva exhibition features works by senior art majors

(From Southern News Service)

Works created by three senior art majors are spotlighted in the new exhibit, “Connections,” now on display in Spiva Art Gallery at Missouri Southern State University.

The senior exhibit is comprised of three individual shows.

Symone Hall, an art education major from Carthage, presents “Home Here, Home There.”

 

“Home is a place not only of comfort, but of control,” she said. “It is the place where I feel the most connected. Every image that I have created in this exhibition reminds me of my home, both here in Missouri and there in the Bahamas. Each (work) evokes a sense of belonging, national pride, nostalgia of the past and personal growth in the present.”

An art history major from Carthage, Susan Griffith’s oil and watercolor paintings are collected in “At the Auction.”

The works follow a man she met at an auction who she found to be an interesting subject – especially his hat.

“He was quite a character,” Griffith said.

Lillias Helt, a fine arts-studio major from Grove, Okla., has centered her exhibit around reflections over water and rocks. In “Honey Creek,” the reimagined landscapes depict the shoreline of Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, her place of residence.

“I seek to challenge the viewer; force a closer introspection of each piece,” said Helt. “My art creates abstraction through realism; structured chaos.”

“Connections” will run through Friday, Dec. 3. A guest reception is planned for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 1, in the gallery. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday.