Six graduating seniors showcased their most impressive pieces of art created at Loyola. This past Monday, family members and friends attended the BFA and BA Senior Showcase. Taking place in the Collins C. Diboll Art Gallery, the seniors displayed the pieces they found most striking.

Whether highlighting the unknown aspects of life or challenging the status quo of traditional artwork, each senior pulled a range of ideas into their final show. Ashley Tagliero, visual arts senior, used the opportunity to recall moments of her early childhood

Through the use of white orchids, Tagliero challenged herself to compose several art pieces to contradict 2-D images. With the reestablishment of space and overlapping of flowers, she was able to reconstruct an almost forgotten memory.

“The white orchids recall a small memory of my mother always tending to the white orchids in our home. The lemony yellow brings out the warm feelings of the memory as the grid aids to the idea,” Tagliero said.

Tagliero continued to describe how her childhood memory combined with the lemony tones, culminated in a series of drawings embodying her younger years.

The first of the six showcased exhibits belonged to Olivia Wells. What began as her study of the religious movement, “Heaven’s Gate,’’ evolved into a fascination for life. From there her artwork’s objective was to display the unknown aspects of everyday life. She titled her exhibit “Extraterrestrial.’’

“I intend to create an atmosphere that draws connections to ideas of modern and historic space travel, political climate, feelings of alienation/isolation, existence and fear and fascination for the unknown,” Wells said.

Through a series of ten black and white 12 x 16 monotypes, Wells depicts unidentified flying objects and humanoid figures.

For visual arts senior Lauren Vega, the Senior Showcase was a moment of enpowerment. Vega focused her artwork around the tradition of female portraits.

“In my work, I portray active, dynamic women in open settings whose gazes are direct or confrontational. The figures dominate the composition and are able to exist in any space without the environmental limitations of status, role or femininity,” Vega said.

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 10.0px; font: 8.5px Utopia}

Through the use of reduced lines and over-saturated colors, Vega’s work engages observers with a push-and-pull like relationship between the subjects and traditional female portraits.