Academics are beginning to weigh heavy on most Asbury students at this point in the year, but for Art and Design juniors, this semester’s beginning marks the culmination of years of hard work. Junior reviews, which happen a year before senior shows, are meant to provide students with a chance to share their art with professors as they seek to refine the direction of their work.
Esther Flint, a junior Art and Design major with an emphasis in photography, is planning on becoming a fashion photographer.
“The inspiration came from working in a bridal shop, and I love the different designers and the way they market their gowns. It’s kind of based around different articles of clothing — particularly one gown — and there’s an emphasis on form,” Flint said.
Flint’s senior show features the overlap of art and branding.
“The main shoot I brought into critique that I was able to bring into my show was featuring two gowns I got to borrow from the bridal shop, which was super sweet of them,” said Flint, “and I picked the exact time, location, the model, and the setting.”
As Flint works toward refining the work for her senior show, she is drawing editorial-style inspiration from the bridal brand Sara Seven, and particularly the photographer Stephanie Williams, and emphasizing the importance of knowing the difference between advertisement and art.
“Professor Segre-Lewis had a really good point when he was critiquing at junior review. He was like, ‘Would someone hang this in their house?’” said Flint. “You’re not just showcasing a product, because that’s not really art. It can be, but it’s a combination of both so it has merit outside the commercial factor.”
Flint plans on a showcase of her photography for her senior show, with a bridal gown as the centerpiece.
“I’m still working on shooting more things and just narrowing down what I want. Hopefully, the show will have a 3D element — I’m hoping to either upcycle or create from scratch the gown that ends up in my senior show,” said Flint.
While Flint’s focus may be on photography, junior Sophie Riley, an Art and Design and Creative Writing double-major, is showing her illustrations that will soon be featured in a book she is publishing with her sister.
“I just showed a book I illustrated. It’s called ‘Garden in a Jar,’ and it’s for our local Japanese Gardens in Rockford, Illinois,” said Riley. “And it’s about this little girl that’s captured all her favorite things about the garden in a jar to share with her friends.”
Riley illustrated and co-wrote the book with her sister, and is thinking about displaying her illustrations as part of her senior show. Riley’s book will be published next spring.
“I get a lot of inspiration from observing,” said Riley. “I draw a lot of people, so most of my inspiration for characters and stuff comes from people I see around me.”
However, Riley also plans on taking her senior show in another direction.
“I’ve been thinking about recreating some illustrations I did as a kid,” said Riley. “I used to draw a lot of really detailed scenes and stories and stuff so I was thinking of maybe recreating those in a more mature sense, paying more attention to composition and color and all of that.”
Riley described the inspiration behind her illustrations.
“I like to find different references and piece different parts of them together, and get ideas from different images I see,” said Riley. “Or, I’ll just take a story and just start from scratch and imagine how it would look. That’s what illustration is, I guess.”
Junior reviews may be over, but the work is only beginning. Both Riley and Flint plan to graduate in 2022.