A shoe made completely out of wire, a sketch of a naked woman resembling a hologram and a self portrait of a boy wearing a pilgrim dress were displayed among other pieces of art at the entrance of the annual juried student exhibition.
Since Dec. 10, students throughout DePauw have been entering pieces to be submitted in this year's show in the Peeler Art Center, which is open through March 22.
Craig Hadley, DePauw's curator of exhibitions and university collections, has had a profound impact on the show. Hadley hired juror Sarah Aubrey, the curator of art at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art.
Hadley then had to set up the show and decide how the exhibition would be presented.
"When I curate a juried show, I look for common threads that tie the work together," Hadley said.
Hadley said with so many works of art, choosing what to display is always a challenge
"We always have the dilemma of having so many excellent works we'd like to include," Hadley said, while also refusing to pick a favorite piece.
Unfortunately though, only 40 works can be selected.
Each work in the show is unique, from a skeleton head on a wall, to a stack of leaves piled up in the center of the room, to replicas of rooms made out of paper collages, to paintings with neon colors that jump out the moment you set foot in the room.
"We try to have a variety of works submitted," Hadley said of the show.
He said he thinks it's important that all levels of work are entered and not just the pieces by the seniors who have the most experience.
"A student show is both especially exciting and particularly challenging," Aubrey admitted in her juror's statement. "Certain works grab you; insist on being included the moment you see them. Others are dismissed but you keep returning to them, an unnamed fascination."
There are three different categories in the show: two-dimensional (2D), three-dimensional (3D), and four-dimensional (4D).
Senior Emily Wilson was this year's 2D winner, Junior Linyao Liu was this year's 3D, and Senior Sammi Yin won the 4D.
"It's nice to get recognition for artwork," said Wilson, who won for the second year in a row. "Personally, I don't expect to get any recognition or acknowledgement. I just paint to paint."
Even though some didn't place, an excessive amount of work went into each and every piece.
Sophomore Lauren Arnold describes what went into creating her piece, "Please Remain Seated," a very realistic-looking sketch of three old men sitting on beach chairs, looking out into the distance.
"I did it in my drawing class with Laurie Miles. We were asked to find a magazine picture, and I found mine from National Geographic. Then, we had to shade and enlarge the picture," Arnold said. "The whole process took her about 12 hours."
This truly unique, engaging exhibit will be open for a little over a month. Nowhere else will you be able to see works entitled "Metamorphosis," "Alveoli," "Please Remain Seated" "Goodnight Vinal Haven," "102+102+102" and "Flying Hot Dogs."