Art & Identity
March 16th 2021 - April 27th 2021
We all have a reason for making art. This exhibition aims to expand on the reasons why artists choose to make art and explore the artists identity. Through this exhibit we want to offer artists the opportunity to present pieces that express what art means to them, art that tells their story, or pieces that reflect the identity of the artist.
– Curated by Liam Garrett, Graphic Design Studies UMBC 2021
INTRNL (Jaylan Hall)
CONNECT, 12" by 12", hard canvas, 2019
This piece, developed over the span of 2017-2019 right on UMBC's campus, prompts the introspective question, can I connect?
TRUNCATE, 9" by 12", tree slice, 2020
Every tree has a cycle. The layers hold beauty, but they do not last forever.
LUNAR, 6", tree slice, 2020
Moonlit night drives.
SYSTEM CONTROL, 13" by 13", ink/paint on textured paper, 2020
A file folder with some special items and an encypted message. keyword = hex
FROSTY, 9"x11", ink/paint on smooth paper, 2020
desc: Unavailable.
Ricky Hawkins
Seeing Visions, 18.5” by 27.75”, Oil on paper, 2019, $670
This painting depicts myself looking out of my bedroom window. This was made when I was at a point where I was healing from mental health issues and is a representation of me looking forward to the future and leaving the past behind.
Bunmi Adeniji
Look at Me, 20” by 20”, Digital Art, 2021
Inspired by Dark-Skinned Black Women
Manal Murangi
BLIGHTNESS, 20” by 13.33”, Photography, 2020
The way human beings experience life isn't crystal clear like a photo. It's a series of images stitched together by small pixels to create our perception. I identify and aim to capture the small ignored pixels in between. There is where the true joy in life resides.
Jack Purcell
Gillian Island, 8” by 10”, print #’d out of 10 Ilford HP5 35mm B&W film, 2019
Maddie Hardy
Selfie Portrait, 10" by 10"
Derek Roper
Welcome to Arkham, 11” by 17”
This piece was created using a combination of photography, photoshop and digital paint programs. Based on Lovecraft’s fictional city, Arkham, this piece features Cthulhu and one person left on the street to encounter him. This is a piece that illustrates how fear of the unknown can be so overwhelming it feels like a towering alien monster. And no way of fathoming how to over come it. Moving to a new city and changing your life is scary, and you don’t know if it will swallow you up or it is all an illusion.
Leng, 11” by 17”
This is a done purely in digital paint. I created the legendary Plateau of Leng from different structures around the world. The fabled Leng appears in various places throughout history. The moment shows Leng as a mirage in the ice crystals of Antarctica. With any pursuit of knowledge, the question is: is it worth it, or just a mirage?
Haunter of the Dark, 11” by 17”
This was illustration, digital paint, and photography. This shows the Church of Starry Wisdom which begs the question is it religion or cult. Flying out of the tower is the Haunter who was pent up in the steeple. One could read this as religion having dark undertones, releasing the true story, reveals some horrors that are too much or the mind to comprehend.
Tiffany Carmouche
Awakening, 19” by 23”
To create this piece, I burned the word invisible as if I was releasing the pain of feeling unworthy from the world and I used the ashes in the painting. In the midst of the grief, because of the loss of dear loved ones, I allowed myself to disappear. I did not recognize the woman that looked back at me in the mirror. The Awakening was born after I realized that in their honor, I had to show up in the world. The vibrance in the watercolor represents finally realizing the brilliance I held within. It represents the moment a woman is ready to reveal herself to the world unapologetically. It represents the moment she finally is ready to embrace the beauty she holds inside. We often hide ourselves, afraid to share our true colors, but it is when we honor our gifts, our scars, and shed our limiting beliefs, we awaken our divine light.
Our Stories, 24” by 36”
As a sculptor, I often reflect on how I, myself, am a part of the artwork I create. In thisgraphic arts piece, I appear among my creations because I too am a work in progress, Itoo have a story.
Our Stories reflection:
What lies beneath that smile? Each day people cross our paths, but do we really know who they are? What if the man sitting alone on the bus was not sleeping, but closing his eyes as he dreamed up a movie score that will one day bring you to tears?
I create works of art in bronze, but I often use unfinished clay. I see the beauty in the raw, for we all are works in progress. It is how we live our life that determines how the world will remember us, even after we are gone. We each have a story. What is yours?
Possibilities, 24” by 36”
While I was sculpting in Italy, my mom passed away unexpectedly. The tragedy was devastating. I wanted to stay in bed, but a fellow sculptor convinced me to go to the marble caves. My mom was an artist, perhaps she would join me on the journey. I finally said yes. The cold dampness of the marble caves intermingled with my feeling of sorrow but as we entered the cave, I knew why I was there. I vowed to return to Italy and sculpt my mother of marble from the same caves Michelangelo got the marble to carved David. This clay bust I created of my mom in Italy the year after she passed away. My dream is to return with the funding to create her in marble, representing all of the work she did as a pioneer in the fight to help people with learning disabilities. While I have grieved, she has blessed me with the ability see the possibilities in front of me because she opened my eyes and believed in me.
Bess Lumsden
The Crow and Me 17" by 22"
Kareem Samuels
Bibleboy Returns, 22" by 16"
Jimmy Wancowicz
Dragontales 2, 24” by 30”
Dasha Kalumuk
Flowers and Caffeine, 16” by 20”