Creative Work

Robin Brino

Permanent Harmony, 2025

Cave Art

This piece showcases the harmony between humans and the natural world, which has united us for thousands and thousands of years. With a limited color palette mimicking the raw materials used by cavemen during the Paleolithic era, various animal figures and hunter-gatherers are pictured on opposite sides of one another. In the middle, a bright and colorful positive hand, symbolizing shared human experiences and serving as a way to leave a mark on this world. The border is composed of various of the thirty cave art symbols used in countless works. 

Daniel Schlactus

Golden Seaside, 2025

Plastic & Ceramic Tesserae, Glue, Gold Leaf

Inspired by Byzantine mosaics, this work aims to harness the natural and imperfect nature of the individual tesserae that make up the mosaic to correspondingly capture the natural and random beauty of the Earth; in this piece, a seaside sunset. Byzantine mosaics were often large murals built into religious buildings and containing representations of religious or historical figures and stories, as well as natural scenes or just pretty patterns, and would even sometimes be coated in gold to cause the canvas to shimmer and shine. While on a much smaller scale, this piece utilizes many of the same ideas and techniques, including portraying a natural scene, flowing gradient patterns, and the center tesserae coated in gold leaf to match the radiance of the setting sun.

Logan Sadorra

The Fruit of Kindness and Giving, 2025

Byzantine Style Mosaic

The greatest challenge in creating this work was balancing adherence to the criteria and process classic Byzantine floor mosaics, while working with the constraints posed by the availability of materials. Floor mosaics made in the Byzantine period were intricately detailed, were formed through processes using materials I had no access to, and featured subject matter, often human, with complex visual form; thus, my approach was to replicate the abstract style of the art form, depicting the comparatively simple subject matter of fruit. 

There is a simple sense of movement common in examples I studied in this medium, which takes the viewer from the central subject of the piece, onto less prominently displayed surrounding features which adorn the central figure through color, composition, and the emphasis that the combination of such elements creates. Often in these floor mosaics, the movement takes a circular flow, which I also emulated in my piece. In various examples, a circular framing guides the viewer’s eye inwards, while also moving the viewer, in increments, towards elements around the piece.

Lucia Brino

Yin-Yang, 2025

Porcelain Painting

This painting incorporates various aspects of Chinese symbolism. The dragon and the phoenix represent the harmonious union of the Yin and the Yang, where the dragon symbolizes power and royalty, and the phoenix symbolizes beauty and grace. The fish further represents prosperity and good luck. This artwork asks the audience to consider how they used specific animals in Chinese tradition to portray auspicious meanings.

Jenna Hargrove

Deep Cobalt Blue Sea, 2025

Ceramic and paint

Based on Chinese Blue and White pottery/Kraak Porcelain. Traditionally stark cobalt blue on white pottery, this piece utilizes blue acrylic paint to imitate this contrast. The sea creatures adorning this piece direct the viewer to this porcelain's seafaring trade routes and their significance in Chinese mythology of bringing wealth. 

Yeri Bryant 

Baby Bird, 2025

Watercolor

Inspired by Delftware, Hungarian, and Norwegian Folk Art this work focuses on nature. Depicted are four baby birds and two adult birds. Following the format of common Folk Art, the usage of traditional florals, fruits and the birds itself reflect onto the common style used years ago. However, in modernity the element of watercolor allows for a spin on layering and placement of space. Each item is inspired and deprived from things like tiles and embodied items. This art work allows the audience to peer into the past. Experiencing a glimpse into the format of Folk Art transformed with todays twist. 

Skylar Brown

Old Red, 2025

Folk Art, Acrylic

Folk art is rooted in nature and the common man. This style is meant to be a representation of the simple lives of those who create it, often using muted colors and containing images of nature, homesteads, or farmers. Old Red depicts just that, a homestead in the countryside, a perfect depiction of labor and love. The beautiful land tells the story of generations who lived and worked there. A sense of quiet peace and pride can be felt amidst the greenery that stretches far beyond the horizon, the ancient trees standing tall, and a little American flag waving in the wind.

Lizzie Colvin

Basket_that_was_going_to_be_a_hat, 2025

Raffia (crocheted), wire, and cardboard

Inspired by African raffia weaving, this piece was my attempt at experimenting with raffia as a crochet material utilized in African markets to make things like baskets and hats. I freehanded the beginnings of a hat before running out of time to complete the brim, so I added a base with cardboard and wire to create a basket. Unsurprisingly, this is a very difficult medium (for me, at least), hence my piece looks rather imperfect. I had to tie the individual pieces of raffia together to make a salvageable yarn-like material to crochet with. This entire project has given me a new appreciation for handcrafted goods, especially those made with raffia palm fibers. 

Carlos Acosta

The Tired Man’s Protector, 2025

Plaster, Raffia, Natural Pigments

This piece encapsulates the feelings of the guard that protects the palace of the Tired Man. With inspirations from Melanesian mask making the artist incorporates raffia to create the hair which is in a perpetual state of awareness. However, as a juxtaposition to this alertness the face has feelings of tiredness and a sense of yawning. This piece primarily uses the technique of expressionism, a common theme in Melanesian Mask making is to focus on trying to convey an emotion, rather than realistic features.

Noah Milholland

Jubilance: of Bird and Flame, 2025

Plaster, Raffia, Natural Pigments

Inspired by traditional masks of the various people of Melanesia, this work imitates common themes that these masks have been crafted for historically. Featuring a human face crossed with that of a great flame bird, a common myth in many countries throughout the world, in a different time and place this mask might have found itself as a part of a ritual, funeral, or celebration. A tauntingly joyful facial expression adorns the mask, representative of the common creative decision to portray overdramatized facial expressions.