Mueller Hall

Emily Graves, Meeting the Neighbors. (2023) Oil on Canvas.

  • In the wild, fish slip into the depths, out of sight, and butterflies quickly flit between

    flowers. In classroom cabinets and museum displays, they sit still. Unlike taxidermy, which

    replaces much of the animal with foam and glass, wet specimens and insect mounts preserve

    entire bodies. While the animals are real, their environments are constructed. Blue dye stands in

    for the ocean; tiny pins keep butterfly wings open in flight. In this space between real and not,

    we connect with the life that surrounds us.

ZIon Gifford, Martyrdom I and Martyrdom II. Paper collage, 2023

  • Thomas of Cantimpré says hares are “born as the prey of all”. While driving I see a rabbit standing in the road, dazed, bleeding from the head, having been struck by a car but still alive. I see it almost get hit again, this time by a train. Joan of Arc burns at the stake for heresy and crossdressing. Two drunk strangers yell at me in the mens’ bathroom of The Cosmopolitan: “There’s a woman in there pissing!” What if Joan regrets her decision? Is this what the hare feels?

Maiah DeoGracias Modern Memento Mori (2023) print on paper,


  • The creation of this piece is inspired by my fascination with the art history concept of a

    "memento mori." A memento mori is a term used to describe a symbol within an art piece that serves as a reminder of mortality and death. One piece in particular I found inspiration from is The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein the Younger.

    Created in 1533, the content, although being known for its theme of exploration and discovery, is particularly striking because of its unique memento mori. The skull Holbein the Younger includes in his art is an optical illusion; highly slanted and distorted when viewing it from the front, but seemingly turning into a perfect-looking skull when seen from an extreme side view angle. In my work, I sought to create a similarly disorienting appearance but with a modern, digitally created twist via the depth and perspective of the colorful background behind the skull.

Paige Cesnik  My Creations (2023), acrylic paint on canvas

Paige Cesnik(2023), acrylic paint on canvas,


  • When given the title of this show, “Be For Real, an exploration of reality,” my first thought was about the phone app BeReal. It’s an app intended to show your true, authentic self, not filtered by the lens of social media. Not only are we filtered online, but also in real life. Everyone has different “masks” they wear around different people, personalities that depend on the environment in which they are in. This led me to dive deeper into myself and who I am, discovering the fabricated sides of me versus who I really am. This is the inspiration for my artworks.

    I demonstrate this idea of “masks” in the piece My Creations by showing all of the different sides of me. These doll-like versions of me show the different eras of my life and the different “roles” I have played. This hand represents myself as I create these fabrications to fit in. In my artwork Paige however, I show the real me without any mask. I am happy, surrounded by the things I love. This prompt and these works connected to me because I have always been a person involved in various activities. I have different sides of myself that I am perceived as depending on how you know me. You may know me as an artist, a performer, or even an athlete. These are all parts of me, but the whole and complete puzzle of all these pieces together are who I really am, just Paige.

Ashley Vernon Methodical Movement (2023), photograph


  • Nothing is more rooted in reality than nature. Nature was humanity's first teacher, the subject of our first artworks, and the generator of our fear and joy. From nature, we learned about patterns, movement, and beauty. Thus, it felt appropriate to explore reality at our roots. There is no subject like a bumble bee. I believe the bumble bee is happiest doing their dance across the fields, for they serve the purpose of bringing sweet things into others' lives. Every day a bee gets to stop and smell the roses. Their hard work makes their rest all the more cherished. To me, the reality of a bee, is the reality of joy in your vocation. Their methodical movements lead to a magnificent life.

Ashley Vernon Math of Modern Day (2021) Photographs


  • This series of three photographs was created during my sophomore year as an entry for the Carlsen and Krebbs Gallery in the Department of Computer Science. This gallery celebrates the beauty of art, as well as that of math and science. I wanted to demonstrate how these seemingly disparate disciplines interact in our world. I photographed three locations that I encountered virtually every day and sought to identify mathematical concepts that were at play within each, Importantly, the mathematical concepts on display in each piece were selected to appeal to the experience of almost everyone. I hoped that viewers could connect the mathematical and visual elements to the space surrounding the work. For example, viewers may see angle and archway elements in the photograph, and connect them to the mathematical representations of the diameter of a circle. While the selected mathematical elements are basic in form, they are vitally important as foundations of more complex computation and design. In the same way, artistic expression is infinitely important to forming an understanding of the larger world. Ultimately it is my hope that these pieces convey conceptual and formulaic information in a tangible, yet imaginative form.