An exhibition featuring graduating design students presents a dynamic range of work across multiple mediums, including photography, graphic design, ink illustration, fiber art, ceramics, sculpture, virtual reality (VR) installations and projection-based pieces.
For Jordan Wiesensee, an Art and Design major with a concentration in graphic design, the exhibition offers an opportunity to showcase her passion for studio art.
Her work confronts the viewer by focusing on the power of the gaze.
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Jordan Wiesensee's two-dimensional gouache portraits featured in the "Create, Connect, Disrupt" exhibition at Nova Southeastern University. (Photo by Marlee Card)
“A lot of my work, especially my studio art, is portraiture. I've always been a very deep person, but capturing the emotion within a picture, something that someone can look at and evaluate for themselves, but also see what I see, is important to me,” she says
Although her primary focus has been graphic design, Wiesensees' portfolio extends well beyond digital layouts. Her exhibition pieces include two-dimensional gouache portraits, clay sculptures and digital artwork. She explains that the exhibition gives graduating seniors space to present the work that resonates most with them.
“We’ve all explored so many different mediums throughout the last semester and the last four years. There are pieces from school and pieces that are personal.”
Open through Thursday, March 12, the 15th edition of the student-led exhibition Senior Exhibition, “Create, Connect, Disrupt," highlights the artwork of Nova Southeastern University’s graduating Art and Design students.
The "Create, Connect, Disrupt" exhibition lead by the graduating students of Nova Southeastern University's Art and Design major will be open until Thursday, March 12. (Photo by Marlee Card)
Tyriana White, a senior and art and design major says: “The Senior Exhibition is not only a way for us to showcase what we’ve done over the years at NSU, our growth and how we’ve learned to use our mediums, but it’s also a way for us to connect to each other and to other audiences."
With a graphic design concentration, White's work focuses heavily on product design where she created mock ups that are shown on television screens in the exhibition.
“Two of my works feature two brands, fictional brands that I created in my classes. One of them is a shoe customization company. I have a bunch of different branding stuff for it, like the color palette, the logos, some mockups, and even a packaging design," White says.
She also explains that her other designs focus around a fictional vegan diner that's centered around the '80s and a cover concept that she created for the NSU’s Digressions magazine.
Tyriana White presents her mock-up packaging design for a fictional shoe customization brand, showing her focus on product branding and visual identity. (Photo by Marlee Card)
Beyond exhibiting the work that students have created throughout the past few years, organizing the exhibition gave students practical, real-world experience that will benefit them after graduation. It serves as a professional launchpad giving students hands-on experience in curation, marketing, installation and branding.
“It really makes you think about doing it in the future, because some of us are going to actually be studio artists and have exhibitions like this,” White says. “Knowing what’s involved and better understanding the things you need to consider, like business cards, artist statements and advertising, helps us be more prepared.”
For the seniors, the theme for “Create, Connect, Design” is fitting for the goals of the exhibition.
“It highlights what our art is capable of doing. What we as artists are capable of doing, we're able to create these diverse, or individualized works, and it can connect to people in different ways. And it can help us connect to other artists, to other people, other communities.” White explains.
Jordan Wiesensee speaks with NSU's student-run media outlet, Mako Media Network, during the opening reception of the exhibition on Thursday, Feb. 12. (Photo by Marlee Card)
Kandy Lopez, associate professor and faculty advisor, says the exhibition reflects the interdisciplinary nature of NSU’s Art and Design curriculum. The program’s structure allows room for minors in business, education or other fields.
During Wiesensee's time at NSU, she says she learned to approach art strategically, a mindset that reshaped how she views her practice.
“Learning art in a strategic way, that’s something I’ve only learned at NSU,” she says. “It’s taught me to think about it strategically and apply it to my business, my career. Having that thought process and like thinking ‘I know what I want to make today and here's what I want it to look like. And it sounds simple but it's really a mix of just understanding what you can create as an artist and using the process to your advantage.”
As the faculty advisor, Lopez says she believes it's important for students to be not just artists, but well rounded in all areas of the discipline.
“We push them into that space and teach them what they should know by the time they graduate so they can get the positions they’re looking for.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: 15th Art and Design Senior Exhibition: "Create. Connect. Disrupt"WHEN: Opens Thursday, Feb. 12 through Thursday, March 12
WHERE: Performance Theater Lobby and Gallery 217 in the Don Taft University Center at Nova Southeastern University, 7200 Mary McCahill Drive, Davie.
TICKETS: Free and open to the public
INFORMATION: (954) 262-7612, or sharkfins.nova
