Transylvania University Studio Art & Digital Arts and Media seniors art exhibition
Emily Cecil / Bailey Guess / Zach Hall / Peyton Netherton / B Perry
An augmented circumstance occurs when something is changed or different than what is usually expected. These modifications come in many forms, such as perspective, process, material, treatment, or approach. While the changes can be exciting and for the better. They can also be challenging, as they disrupt what we understand as normal from past experience or points of view.
Art is created directly from the circumstance of the artist and is directly tied to the context they inhabit. The artists in the Augmented Circumstance exhibition are seniors at Transylvania University who are both creating from and responding to a series of augmentations in their education, creative practices, and daily lives during the global pandemic. Through this alternative way of existing in the world, they have created the artwork and exhibition before you. On one hand, both art and exhibition are born from the highly unusual and unprecedented situations of the last year. On the other hand both are a response to the current moment, and in that way, these artists are doing what artists have always done. They are responding to their circumstances to create new ways of questioning and giving us a new way to look at and understand the world.
Emily Cecil
Studio Art
Biography
Emily Cecil grew up in the one stoplight town of New Haven, Kentucky. From a very young age she was interested in art and famously drew on all the walls. Once given a piece of paper, she never stopped doodling. This love for art continued into her studies at Transylvania, where she became a Studio Art major. While at Transy she found a love for screen printing and ceramics. With these mediums she creates art using her childhood love of pop culture and sea creatures. When not making art she can be found playing her guitar or watching movies.
Artist Statement
My work combines my childhood love of monster movies with my complicated feelings toward Christianity. As a child I found comfort in watching sci-fi and black-and-white horror films. It was there that I saw creatures who were cast off by society for simply being themselves. As a child in a small hometown, I had trouble finding where I fit in. The church community is the foundation in which my town relies on. My father is Catholic and my mother is Baptist, I was raised to be Baptist. Throughout my adolescence and teenage years I never felt as I belonged in either church community. I felt like an outsider to the community that was supposed to love and care for me. As an adult, I have now seen that I had a community all along. The film creatures of the past were proving to me that I was not weird or unlovable. They showed me what it is like to be human. Difficulty in finding love, freedom, and a home are very human traits. It just so happens to be that the creatures teaching these lessons look a little different.
I thought it would be a great honor to display my favorite creatures in a shrine dedicated to them. E.T., Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Bride of Frankenstein were the creatures I ultimately selected. I combined my love of screen printing and my abundance of collectibles to create these shrines. I have honored them in a way that is usually only reserved for important Christian figures. This is a playful comparison I am making to Christian imagery and is no way trying to offend. I thought it would be a great honor to these creatures to present them in such a powerful way.
Bailey Guess
Digital Arts & Media
Biography
Bailey Guess grew up in Louisville Kentucky and has been interested in art since she could color in the lines in preschool (she’s a bit of a perfectionist). Bailey took AP Studio Art in high school where she fell in love with painting and it continues to be something she loves to do in her free time. Bailey grew up spending every summer at the beach which is where her love of music developed as she would always jam out with her family on those long car rides to Florida. She also has a love for pop culture and anything “trendy”. All these things tie together to provide inspiration into her work. Bailey will be attending Law School in the fall!
Artist Statement
Bailey’s work is a video compiled of album cover paintings that have been turned into GIFs (a lossless format for image files that supports both animated and static images). The album covers that Bailey chose to paint are those that at some point or time moved her and/or helped her through tough times, such as the pandemic. This process was done largely through the digital process of scanning her paintings into Photoshop and digitally animating an aspect of the painting. Her work aims to encourage individuals to use music an outlet to feel emotions that they may not be able to outwardly express; but can express through music. Bailey believes that music is a form of poetry and one song can mean multiple different things to different people. Bailey hopes that her work is relatable and/or that it can inspire at least one person to lean into music as she does.
“It is amazing how in this gigantic world, where we are quick to feel alone, we so easily stumble across a song that puts into words just how we are feeling & suddenly we are no longer alone” – Bailey Guess
Flying High – acrylic on poster board, digital aspects via Photoshop - 3024 x 2304 pixels – 2020
Uzi take off – acrylic on poster board, digital aspects via Photoshop – 3024 x 2304 pixels – 2020
Blond – acrylic on poster board, digital aspects via Photoshop- 3024 x 2304 pixels – 2021
I want it That Way – acrylic on poster board, digital aspects via Photoshop – 3024 x 2304 – 2021
Drip Lip – pointed knife, scratch-off paper, digital aspects via Canva – 3024 x 2304 – 2021
Zach Hall
Studio Art
Biography
Zachary Hall is a Lexington native and has loved making art since he was a child. During the early years of his life, cartoons and video games spurred Hall’s creativity. Now, he draws inspiration from conversations about religion and popular culture, as well as his own study of theology. During the lockdown, he began gardening and mural painting—one of many disciplines he has incorporated into his practice since he began at Transylvania University. By taking a wide variety of art courses, as well courses in religion, Hall has built on a base established in drawing and painting. He often seeks to incorporate as many different materials, techniques, and methodologies into his work as possible. Usually Hall’s multi-disciplinary practice takes the form of sculpture, which allows him to create fantastic viewing environments that promote emotional and intellectual engagement.
Artist Statement
While the subject of Hall’s work has shifted over time, tension has always been at the center of his practice, be it emotional, ideological, or technical. Although his practice was initially born out of a need to achieve catharsis, to resolve the conflict between himself and his environment, emotional release is now secondary to other concerns as he has moved into adulthood. Nonetheless, tension has remained a focal point as Hall reflects on his current place in the complex social landscape of America. He is now seeking to analyze the relationship between his own Catholic faith and the world around him, between objective truth and a culture that upholds “personal truth.”
By employing various disciplines, like woodworking, needle felting, ceramics, and videography, he is attempting to create a sculptural practice and a visual language that will allow him to address the complexities of religion, theology, and philosophy. In doing this, Hall hopes to communicate the tenets of a historical religion to a post-modernist world. Not only this, but he hopes to highlight the lasting impact of ancient theo-philosophical debates, as well as the influence of these debates on current political and social discourses. By engaging how discourses are constructed, Hall’s work often demonstrates how art pieces are constructed.
Jeffersonian - arches watercolor paper, graphite, sharpie, acrylic paint, video - 90" x 120" - 2021
“For this piece, I gathered sixteen of my peers to paint a re-creation of Caravaggio’s Incredulity of St. Thomas. Each individual painted only a section of the work, which I outlined across multiple panels. Participants painted in groups of four with their backs to each other, and they were only given an hour to complete their assigned portions. I withheld all information about the source image, save for a few descriptors. In order to ensure that participants remained unaware of the subject matter, I forbade them to discuss what they were painting and only told them the rules of the project once. If questioned about whether or not the participants had to finish their sections, I simply repeated the phrase, “Interpret as you may.” By limiting the amount of information my participants had, I sought to visually trace the postmodernist argument that all knowledge is partial and that objective reality cannot be perceived.”
Peyton Netherton
Digital Arts & Media
Biography
Peyton Netherton is originally from Richmond, Kentucky and attended Madison Central High School. After attending Belmont University in Nashville, TN for two years Netherton transferred to Transy to focus on soccer and for career opportunities following graduation. As a Digital Arts & Media major Netherton has been able to work very closely with the Digital Arts & Media professors, to gain interest and insight in drone work. What interests Netherton most about drone capturing is how it allows for the capture of experiences and showing the world from creative perspectives. Following graduation, he plans to continue a career using drone photography and continuing to explore Virtual Reality content.
Artist Statement
My work in the senior exhibition takes you into a virtual perspective of three different locations in Lexington, Kentucky: Downtown Lexington, The Arboretum, and a natural location. Each of the three Virtual Reality Headsets displays a series of 360 photos from each location. Also, there is a video displayed on a TV monitor of video footage I captured in all the three locations put together. I captured the 360 photos and most of the video footage from the video by using a drone camera; the DJI Mavic Pro series II as well as some captured in the video on a iPhone Series X. Working in the Adobe Premiere Pro I edited and finalized the video work. The biggest issue I had to face when completing this project was the weather when flying my drone. The drone cannot fly in rain, snow, or heavy winds and it must be at least 32 degrees Fahrenheit to fly. This limited a lot of the time I had to go capture photos, but it was important to me to get as much footage as possible so I could create a very realistic image of my hometown. In my mind, the more realistic the video seems to be, the easier it is to gain the viewer’s interest. It was also difficult trying to figure out how to edit some of the 360 photos that were over exposed. It took a lot of research, and trial and error to help limit the over exposure, but it was important to me to do so. I really wanted the viewer to see a true and clear image so that they could not only appreciate the “art” of the image but also feel as if they were experiencing it. Drone footage should create a pleasing aesthetic. A smooth and “cinematic” visual is the goal. That is probably one of the main reasons why I enjoy creating drone footage so much. You create an image that the audience can actually experience in a sense.
Footage of Lexington - Video footage from the DJI Mavic II Pro Drone, Computer Monitor - 2021
B Perry
Studio Art Major
Art History and Asian Studies Minors
Biography
Perry moved from Taiwan to Trigg County, Kentucky at around 9 years old. They decided to pursue art in their senior year of high school, despite originally planning on continuing studying music in college. Perry has spent their time at Transy trying their hand in several mediums. Since making an assemblage during May Term of their first year at Transy, they have gradually shifted from making 2D works to 3D works by their senior year. Currently, Perry primarily creates works based around found materials, focusing on deconstruction and reconstruction. When not tearing things apart, Perry can be found hanging out with their rat or buying a case of soy milk in an Asian grocery.
Artist Statement
My works in this show exhibits my interest in materials and how they can be used in different or unusual ways. In two of my works, I explore remaking premade materials: stripping one bare and integrating some unusual materials in another. In two more of my works, I challenge the existing identities of materials and ideas. In one, I digitally manipulate photographs, transfer them into a physical paper form, and further alter them physically. In the other, I have brought to life what a family tree might mean to a kid.
One of my goals in art making is to express myself without explicit disclosure. It is common for me to find multiple possible meanings when talking to others or reading assignment instructions. I think the interpretations are a manifestation of one’s life experiences, and can serve as a means of self-reflection. For me, being able to see multiple meanings sometimes leads to confusion, but due to both necessity and curiosity, I have gotten very comfortable with asking questions. Ultimately, I have applied this ongoing occurrence that I have with words to materials in a way that is more fun for me.