Senior Thesis exhibit to open, Friday
The Lamar University department of arts will present “Spectrum,” the fall 2018 senior thesis show, beginning Friday in the Dishman Art Museum. The exhibition begins with a reception, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the Dishman Art Museum.
Graphic designer James Holt said his collection is called “Creepshow,” inspired by 1980s movie nostalgia.
“I have aspirations to one day do opening credits for different movies,” he said. “I’m working with cinemographs that will basically be movie posters, inspired by an ’80s horror flick.”
Graphic designer Christina Cabrera said she was inspired by her baby
“He was born in January, so basically my ideas completely changed,” she said. “Before I found out I was pregnant, I was going to do something completely different. It was just going to be a brand, and then it became a brand with fashion, now — something dealing with clothing. My title’s name is ‘Zander,’ my baby’s name.”
Becca Jo Stephens said her inspiration has always been myths for her thesis, “Unsettled.”
“I have drawn from my own nightmares to produce my thesis, and how your personal life will affect your dreams,” she said. “I didn’t want to just do all types of dreams — I wanted to stick with the horror and dark aspect of dreams.”
Edgar Sanchez said he has been doodling and drawing since he was a child.
“When I came here as a freshman, I learned about color and the infrastructure of typography, and I got it with a bang and designed my own typeface,” he said. “(I) used it through color and action and op art. I just had a whole bunch of fun messing with the typeface, and I think it came out pretty well.”
Rebecca Broussard’s thesis, “Melon Soda,” draws on music merchandise.
“I created a band around this idea, the genre of future base, went from there and made a bunch of merchandise,” she said. “My favorite has been dealing with paper illustration and set making, just creating an entire set with these paper shapes has been really fulfilling as a project.”
Cabrera said her thesis pushed her out of her comfort zone.
“What I liked most about my project was that I never sewed or made clothes by myself before — made clothes just from a piece of cloth and make something out of it — and that was pretty badass,” she said. “Basically, I learned something completely new and I turned out to really be good at it. My clothing actually came out pretty good.”
Andy Ramos’ thesis is titled “Madhouse.”
“My inspiration is an alter ego, this reflection of mine that’s battling inside this mad house — he’s gone mental,” he said. “I had to become these characters, so overnight, at two or three in the morning, I had to pretend I was these characters, walk around like them, eat like them and to become like them.”
The thesis is the culmination of four years of study and is a semester-long project.
“I think thesis, in general, is a combination of taking everything that you know and putting all together — and watch it unravel and reveal itself, like how much you learn in college in art school,” Holt said. “We take all the skills that these teachers have taught us, and this is basically to prove the test that we learned. I think the most interesting thing is, when it’s complete, to see how successful we have become, how ready we are for the world.”
Stephens said her favorite part of thesis was creating photo montages.
“The environment is combined of different elements that don’t normally go together,” she said. “It’s exciting to create something not normally there.”
“Spectrum” will be on display through Dec. 15.
Story by Nazarie Manning, UP contributor