Ball State seniors will expose their deepest emotions and artistic integrity at the “13 Directions” exhibit at Cornerstone Center for the Arts.
Through the month of November, the show will display a wide variety of themes and techniques from the 13 seniors. Tonight’s show starts at 6 p.m.
The common thread linking this group of photographers and their artwork is their class at Ball State, Directions With Photography.
“It’s the first semester that they devote the entire 16 weeks to one project, which is a new thing for a lot of [the students],” professorJacinda Russell said. “In the class, we learn a lot about professional practices and exhibiting artwork. My goal is to have their series be something that they could put out into the world and exhibit in a solo show.”
For many of the students, this show is their first time displaying their work outside of Ball State. Seniors in the photography major must submit a senior thesis project that includes a showcase of their work in the spring in order to graduate. Essentially, “13 Directions” is functioning as a dress rehearsal for the thesis project, where the students can get feedback about their artwork from the public.
“I love it when people look at my work and give me feedback,” said Kaylie Davis, whose art is featured in the show. “I like to see people’s reactions and hear their conversations about it amongst themselves. I want to hear what’s working and what’s not working or what they find interesting.”
Davis’s project, titled “Rejection,” involves her taking a deep look into her past. She said while in middle school, she kept a journal of her life as a way to document everything that happened and what she was learning. One of the entries in the journal is a note she gave to a boy she liked, where she asked him out and received a “no” in return. In her work, she includes this note and accompanying journal entries alongside photos she took that she feels accurately represents the emotions she experienced at the time, she said.
“I did this little shoot spur of the moment because my boyfriend was sleeping,” Davis said. “It was morning, and I had really awesome lighting. I snapped a couple pictures of him, and I have this cream-colored night gown that I’ve been wearing in every single set of images in this self portrait project, so I got into it real quick and sat on the bed next to him and looked away. The top image is of me sitting on the bed with him behind me, and the bottom image is a larger photo of the same view and perspective where I’m not in it. Since the notes are about rejection, the photographs also are about rejection.”
Aly Moore, another student in the show, took a different approach with her project. Her work is a series of photographs showing different areas of her body that are being affected by a disease she was diagnosed with two years ago — hypothyroidism.
“It’s sort of me analyzing my medical body and journaling some of the personal things I go through with it,” Edmondsonsaid. “I have four images, and they are stack[ed] up like a body and zoomed in on four different areas of my body: my head, neck, chest and torso. I have written in personal experiences of these parts of the body that were affected. I really liked where this project was going in my digital imaging class, and a lot of what I say I feel like is universal, so people can connect with it.”
These are just two of the many different pathways being taken for the showcase. From more traditional photography to liquid emulsion, there may be something for everyone’s artistic taste.
“I love the fact that they are doing this on their own,” Russell said. “It’s exciting. I just hope they push themselves and try to get their work out there more after this experience.”
