Home is where the heart is, or — for many of this year’s studio art majors — where the inspiration lies.
For the first time in two years, visitors and student artists filled the halls — and both floors — of the Bates Museum of Art to celebrate the opening of the senior thesis exhibition.
Watch as the 15 graduating studio arts majors proudly present their work to friends, family, and faculty.
Coming out of two years learning and making art during a pandemic, displacement and a search for belonging and identity is a noticeable theme in the exhibition.
Katy Boehm ’22 of Denver mapped out her own world, and provided booklets for visitors to give more context to the piece, as well as to invite questions about the city layout she created, and the names she chose.
“I liked asking viewers which house on the map they would want to live in,” says Boehm. “I loved how they’d debate back and forth and imagine what it would be like to live in the world I created.”
From pottery inspired by childhood memories, to watercolor animation of a beloved family pet, to a walk-in art installation dedicated to the life of a dear friend, the interpretation of the concept of “home” is as diverse as the mediums used.
If any one epiphany can be taken away from the exhibition, it’s that home doesn’t have to be a place; it can also be an object, a pet, or even a person.
