Every spring, all senior art students participate in the “Senior Art Exhibit”, where each week a small group of students curates a collection of their artwork to be featured in Miller Gallery. Megan Bock, a senior art student with a concentration in photography and visual communication, is one of the artists featured in this week’s Senior Art Exhibit, “Exploring Chaos“. Bock talks about her journey as a photographer and explains the meaning behind her art.
Bock and her three gallery-mates, Michaela Kronenberger, Cara Rano and Jordan Schrader, chose the title of the exhibition.
“In here you’ll see printmaking, photography, design … there’s such a variety and it’s kind of chaotic in a way,” Bock said.
Artists were able to choose any of their works to be featured in the exhibition. Bock explains that many of the pieces she chose were from her recent work based on body image. She draws inspiration for her artwork from personal experience.
Bock was in high school when she first gained an interest in photography. She discovered her photography skills by accident with a Polaroid camera.
“I was goofing off one day with one that we had at home and I took a picture of my mom and my sister looking up at my brother—he was in the tree,” Bock said.
She said it is one of her favorite photographs to this day. It is the reason Bock’s mom recommended photography to her as a career. She began taking photography classes at her high school and coming into college, Bock was sure that photography was the degree she wanted to pursue.
Throughout her time as a student, Bock’s photography has evolved from something she used to express herself into a message that she wants to share with others.
“I was using my photography and my artwork to kind of cope with what happened in the past … kind of like a way to express myself because I’m not very good with words,” Bock said.
The focus of her senior year’s photography was around the theme of body image. Many of the pieces in her collection are nude female images.
“I started focusing on body image because I struggled with that myself and I see other people struggling … I realized it’s not about what your weight is or how you look. If you are happy with the way you look, then that’s all that matters,” Bock said.
One of Bock’s favorite pieces in the Senior Art Exhibition is a six-panel photography collection of blurred female nudes in various poses. The piece features Bock and is the first time she has put herself in her artwork. She says it was something she felt compelled to do after her battle with body image.
Bock recently started a graphic design internship with Americheer, which has given her insight toward a new career possibility.
“I wasn’t planning on going into graphic design. I was mostly looking towards doing art therapy and going to grad school for it. But over there at Americheer, I’m really falling in love with graphic design and thinking ‘whoa, this is actually a lot of fun and could actually be what I do for the rest of my life’,’’ she said.
“Exploring Chaos” and other senior art exhibitions can be seen in Miller Gallery through May 16.
