Senior Juried Show 2023

May 4^th  –  May 21^st  2023

Sydney Austin

James Arcoleo

Michaela Conway

Courtney Collibee

Amara D’Antuono

Patricia Jurkowski

Ray North

Rory Smith

Alexa Winter

Opening Reception Friday May 19^th 5-7pm

The Dorrance H. Hamilton Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of the Art and Art History Department’s Senior Juried Show featuring graduating senior Art major students Sydney Austin, James Arcoleo, Michaela Conway, Courtney Collibee, Amara D’Antuono, Patricia Jurkowski, Ray North, Rory Smith and Alexa Winter. An opening reception for the artists is scheduled for Friday May 19^th  from 5 – 7pm.

Sydney Austin is a Illustration and Graphic Design Concentrator whose work revolves around the development of her graphic novel, titled, The Phoenix of the South. Bringing the darkness to light, the primary theme that Austin shares in her art is mental health, specifically how people hide their true feelings for fear of being stigmatized.  Sydney connects with her audience by inserting her own struggles in her characters to tell people about what goes on inside her head.  Instead of rushing to finish the whole novel, she decided to produce a series of volumes so that her readers could grow alongside the characters.

James Arcoleo is a Graphic Design Concentrator whose work focuses on linear portraits with text and drawing.  His work has a macabe melancholy that is challenged by bright red scrawled graffiti-like emotional statements.  He works with skeletal figures, sad clowns and snakes, all with a toxic edge and a burning desire to engage with anger and complacency.

Michaela Conway is a Graphic Design and Interactive Media Concentrator whose work is an exploration of brand identity design that reflects her interests as a graphic designer. In creating the brand Florence, Conway drew inspiration from the Newport mansions on Salve Regina’s campus, allowing the intricate architectural details to accentuate the luxurious aesthetic of her clothing line. She first developed a brand identity, focused on translating the opulence of Ochre Court and the Vinland Estate into a fashion line and logo design. From there, she designed a fashion catalog, packaging, website, and a video campaign. Her installation in the Hamilton Gallery is a pop-up shop that allows for an immersive consumer experience for the viewer that projects the luxurious aesthetic of Florence.

Courtney Collibee is a Illustration Concentrator whose painted work is deeply collaborative.  She curates poses based on how her models answer questions like: “what is your biggest fear?” or “what do you feel is something most people don’t know about you?” to form a story line of their character in the image.  Her goal is to achieve noticeabe tension in the dynamic between model and artist, to capture them in vulnerable moments.

Amara D’Autuono is a Graphic Design, Interactive Media and Photography Concentrator who enjoys working with many mediums. Her thesis project is the perfect example of this

combination. Her project is based around the comfort that one should feel in their own

home. Using Revit and Enscape, she created hyper realistic 3-dimensional renderings to

trick the eye into thinking that the spaces are real. She turned these renderings into a

magazine entitled Jules, named after the interior designer of Ochre Court.

Patricia Jurkowski’s is a Painting and Illustration Concentrator who makes dark figurative oil paintings.  Her body of work centers on the relationship between the viewer and the figures. Jurkowski composes provocative images that first aim to shock the viewer, then garner further thought. The subjects are trapped behind the glass of viewership, destined to exist only as a spectacle in the memory of whoever gazes at them. They are unforgettable, yet easily judged on the surface. They are unexplainable upon initial sight yet force you to ponder why they exist.

Ray North is a Graphic Design Concentrator whose work plumbs psychological depths with hard edged graphic portraits like “Horseface” and his quiet, limited palette “Self Portrait.  He also  engages with a wry sense of humor in the sweet and funny Meyers Briggs survey “Find Your Personality” video.  This humor plays with the self-seriousness of the idea of a personality test by pairing cartoons and movie characters with their MBTI personalities.  His bashful portrait keeps a watchful eye over the whole endeavor.

Rory Smith is a Interactive Media and Graphic Design Concentraor whose work explores the intersection of the real and surreal.  He strives to create images that captivate and terrify.  His goal is to push the boundaires of what is possible in visual storytelling, using the latest digital tools and techniques to bring his vision to life.  In his work as a UX designer, he approaches each project with a focus on usability, accessibility and aesthetics.  By combining his skills as a graphic artist, illustrator and UX designer, he aims to bring a unique perspective to the world of digital media.

Alexa Winter is a Painting Concentrator whose painting and drawing describe a sense of place.  In “Park Brunch” we are looking at an ample active scene filled with figures dining and ambling through a lush space.  The bright, active line of her oil pastel is antic, active, allowing the drawing to come to life, to vibrate.  The scale of the drawing, dripping almost to the floor allows us entrance to a scene of half abstraction, half energy.  Meanwhile “2010” is a bright swamp, dripping off a canvas with drooping brilliance, slow, melting.  It is at once here with us and sinking away.

The Dorrance H. Hamilton Gallery is located in the Antone Academic Center on the campus of Salve Regina. It is handicap accessible with parking along Lawrence Avenue and Leroy Avenue. Its exhibits are open to the public, though our regular hours will be a bit limited through the run of this show as the students are in finals period.  We will have some of our regular monitored hours May 6-21^st on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Wednesdays and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays from Noon to 4 p.m. The gallery is closed on Mondays.  If you miss us during this time, please contact [email protected] to make an appointment to see the show or do come to the opening on May 19^th from 5-7pm.