Senior art majors partnered with 91吃瓜’ Department of Art to showcase their art in a new exhibition this fall
By Lauren Mar ’25
For art majors at 91吃瓜, exhibiting their work is a seminal part of 91吃瓜鈥� academic and artistic tradition. This year, seniors presented their projects in a celebratory exhibition hosted by the College鈥檚 art department.
The Lang Art Building gallery boasted a vast array of media. Student works ranged from photography to painting to sculpture to video. The seniors featured in this year鈥檚 exhibition were Leslie Ahuatzi, Giulia Bellon, Emma Brauser, Cayman Chen, Olive Gaetz, Ali Ge, Jamie Haith, Fiona Irving-Beck, Lue Khoury, Ryan Nguyen, Janet Russin, Ruby Salvatore Palmer, Mikayla Stout, Cherish Voyticky, Jessica Yim, and Trinity Zhang.
The gallery theme 鈥淭ouch and Go鈥� arose from a collaborative discussion among the featured artists. Art and Spanish dual major Olive Gaetz 鈥�25 suggested the theme.
“Upholding Bull,” sculpture by Olive Gaetz ’25
鈥淚 found it really interesting that a lot of the artists here use texture and interactivity,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 was thinking about touch in the sense of not only the physical, but also the emotional.鈥�
Inspired by the practice of bullfighting in Madrid, Gaetz鈥檚 piece reflects on the artificiality and importance of tradition. Gaetz shares, 鈥淗aving my work on display is rewarding. It was great to work with a lot of other art seniors and be challenged with criticism or questions. I found it a very strenuous process, but really worth it to push me as an artist.鈥�
鈥淏eyond a Mask,鈥� a work by Leslie Ahuatzi 鈥�25, helped with the artist鈥檚 struggle to take pictures of herself, saying, 鈥淚 didn’t really grow up looking at myself a lot. So for this project, I wanted to do self-portraits. I also wanted to tie in my identity as Mexican American into my work, so I used masks to highlight the tension of being yourself in a predominantly White space.鈥�
“Beyond a Mask,” artwork by Leslie Ahuatzi ’25
Mikayla Stout ’25, an art and humanities major, created a large sculpture composed of stuffed pantyhose, which is displayed in the Lang courtyard. The piece is inspired by philosopher Deleuze鈥檚 idea of folds and the potential of female bodies.
鈥淚 felt like I was building another body, almost in a Frankenstein way,鈥� says Stout. 鈥淏ecause everything is hand-sewn and hand-stuffed, it was very time consuming鈥攂ut also meditative.鈥�
Double major in art and psychology Cherish Voyticky 鈥�25 displayed her autobiographical photography series 鈥�20 Something,鈥� 鈥淚n Between New York,鈥� and 鈥淭hrough His Eyes.鈥� Reflecting on the broad range of pieces in the exhibit, Voyticky found they all touched on connection, intimacy, and relationships with oneself and others. For her own work, she focused on capturing 鈥渋n-between moments,鈥濃�攖he ephemeral and the transitory parts of our lives.
Emma Brauser ’25 with her work, “I Miss My Teeth”
Cherish Voyticky ’25 displayed her digital photography collection, “Roots Through Routes”
With Commencement on the horizon for these seniors, Voyticky is grateful for the Department of Art at 91吃瓜 and the opportunity to exhibit. 鈥淚 never imagined that I was going to major in art,鈥� she shares. 鈥淚t has definitely shown me that there are different options for me in terms of what I want to pursue for a career.鈥�