This Sunday, April 1, the Hillsdale College Art Department will showcase the work of five senior art majors: Maxine D’Amico, Moriah Morgan, Frances Anderson, Emma Curtis, and Megan McNeil. The show, opening in the Daughtrey Gallery, includes a reception from 2 to 4 p.m.
Each student will exhibit 12 to 15 pieces in a variety of media, including oils, watercolor, drawing, sculpture, and textiles.
Senior Maxine D’Amico will exhibit dresses she has made, as well as fashion illustrations.
D’Amico said her inspiration for clothing design comes from traveling to Europe with her mother and sister, Juliana D’Amico ‘09.
“My mom and I both loved Chanel,” D’Amico said. “I love outfits with an elegant, classic line, like Kate Spade.”
D’Amico said she has two favorite pieces: a sculpture titled “Nike of Samothrace” and a black dress modeled on a drawing she saw while visiting New York City.
Senior Moriah Morgan will exhibit several paintings including portraits, still life, landscapes, and pictures of birds.
“My love of birds and art tends to meet after a while,” she said.
Morgan said realism forms a large part of her inspiration.
“God is the first artist, and we should try to imitate that,” she said. “We should try to capture the essence of something that already exists.”
Morgan said realism is possible in any medium, including oils, watercolors, egg tempera, and pen and ink, but painting is her favorite.
Senior Emma Curtis will exhibit oil paintings and watercolors, and is considering exhibiting fabric squares she created in a textile design class on patterns this semester.
Curtis said her favorite piece is a painting of a bridge near Whidby Island in Puget Sound, Wash., titled “Deception Path.”
“I’m from the Seattle area, and I love the scenery,” Curtis said. “Nature is a huge inspiration, especially being from the Pacific Northwest.”
Curtis said she also draws inspiration from her father, who turned his hobby, photography, into a business and taught Curtis’s art classes while she was being homeschooled.
Senior Frances Anderson will exhibit oil paintings and photographs.
“I really enjoy how oil painting is a slow process of building,” she said. “You can start a piece, come back to it, and make changes.”
Anderson said she has also found a love for photography, which is a complete change of perspective from the step-by-step process of oil painting. She said she especially loves doing landscapes in photography and oil paints.
Anderson said her favorite piece showing this week is a still life titled “Harvest Table.”
“Professor [Sam] Knecht brought in a huge assortment of vegetables, fruits, squashes, and corn. I chose the big green squash and purple corn. I loved the vibrant colors of the natural fruits and vegetables.”
Senior Megan McNiel will exhibit oil, watercolor, and acrylic paintings as well as mixed media. She began working with acrylics when painting wall murals at her family’s home in Washington.
McNiel said she draws inspiration from other people and from God’s work in nature.
“There’s always something new, and His color choices are really fantastic,” McNiel said.
McNiel said her favorite piece is “Saturday Mornings with Logan,” an acrylic painting in a simple style that depicts the sky and tree line near her home.
“I love it because it reminds me of home. When you step on our back porch you can see where I painted it.”
She enjoys working in every medium.
“My choice of medium is ‘love,’ because if you’re not displaying love throughout your work you’re working in vain,” she said.
sbarrett@hillsdale.edu
