If you are walking up to the Tate Library, you will be pleasantly surprised by the Spring Student Art Exhibit you find on the first floor. The exhibit features artwork across mediums and classes and has been a great way to revitalize the space in order to celebrate Fieldston students. The exhibit is up from now until the end of school, so make sure to walk by and appreciate the incredible talents of your peers.
The goal of the exhibit is to showcase what Fieldston artists have been creating in their classes this spring. The classes include: 2D Visual Arts, 3D Visual Arts, 8th-grade Drawing and Painting, Architecture, Ceramics, Design and Engineering, Life Drawing, Sculpture, Printmaking, and Mixed Media. Students who are 2D Art Majors were asked to create a self-derived body of work that fit under an overarching theme. The architecture work on display is the end result of a year-long project the students have been working on to create an architectural invention that the campus could benefit from.
The sheer multitude of the art represents the revitalization of life that we are all experiencing post-COVID. Visual Arts Department Chair Scott Wolfson says “last year, we got a third—if even that—of the quantity of work that we normally get from students.” Whereas this year, the walls and floor of the Tate are filled with colorful omens of our collective spring awakening.
“There’s more out now than there’s been the whole two years that I’ve been working here. Wow… Maybe the [show’s] theme is exuberance,” says art teacher Matthew Fischer.
As opposed to the art shows in the past, this Spring Art Show aims to represent everyone, instead of just individual class shows. You are able to walk in and see paintings, drawings, sculptures, etc., of all shapes and colors and sizes, allowing you to see all the work from your friends and peers. Mr. Wolfson says, “We try to just get as much work out as possible so that every student can have the opportunity to walk past their work and show their friends or their family, which is really fun.”
Below are a few examples of the incredible art found in this show, along with artists’ statements that give further insight into their work:
Remy Lipman
“Inspired by the impressionist movement of the early 1860s mixed with modern artistic influences such as street art, Yume Kawaii art and graffiti styles, A Pastel Unraveling is a piece I originally wanted to make solely for humor. However as I worked on the piece I realized it holds a deeper meaning and has relevance in our society today. The idea for this painting came after a trip to the Lacma museum where I was introduced to the work of Yoshitomo Nara. I loved the comedic, cute and sinister aesthetic of Nara’s work and enjoyed how the portraits with violence or gore still brought a smile to my face. This was due to the plump childlike faces and bodies of the subjects, implanting an aspect of comedy and social commentary about stereotyping and assuming based on appearance. I wanted to make a piece that had a similar effect, incorporating my love for impressionist art and mixing it with modern day horror aesthetics. I came up with the character of a 1860s girl who is pleasant and modest on the outside but has dark and destructive impulses within. …What this piece has taught me is that putting your mind to something and executing it to the best of your abilities is a hard task but extremely rewarding. I’m extremely proud of this piece and it is one of my artworks I have ever made. My wish for it is that it brings joy to anyone who passes by it and if not joy a little bit of confusion at the fact that this 12 year old looking girl has blood splashed on her face, smoking cigarettes and burning down houses.”
Paloma Hostin
“Personally, as a woman of color, in social media, we are portrayed as a trend, rather than what we stand for or our personal character. Furthermore, around the time I started painting this was when there were a lot of black deaths due to police brutality on the streets and people were doing nothing. So overall, I painted this to reflect how we are not truly seen nor treated equally, hence why I didn’t include eyes in this painting, just the big hair and bright colors. I also entered this in an art contest labeled ‘Bleeding Culture’ referring to the pain as well as all I’ve explained already, hence why I added the drips as well.”
“I have always loved and been interested in people- how they act, who they are, how they interact with one another. For this series, I focused on just that. I found candid photos of people in social settings and wanted to transform them into a story. I imagined what each individual person was thinking and how they were feeling. What was their role in that setting? How do they fit in the story? I painted in big, expressive, and sometimes surreal ways that allowed me to explore each individual character and convey what they were thinking and feeling. By using a medium like gouache on water-color paper, the colors could flow freely into one another but still retain enough structure to create definite shapes while still leaving enough room for imagination. Each painting tells its own story and each person has their own interpretation.”
Gaby Bommorito, Maddy Kaufman, Caiden Steinkamp, and Carly Weisblum
“We began this year in architecture by exploring the Fieldston campus and neighborhood. Our central assignment was to create a structure that could be implemented on the Fieldston grounds. On one of our exploratory walks, our group noticed a feral cat roaming near the football bleachers. There was only one logical conclusion to be drawn from this experience- the Fieldston campus needed a cat house.”
