Senior art students M Hackett and Teagan Amey presented their senior exhibition titled ‘Ruminant.” The opening of the show was on March 12.
Senior Otterbein art students are required to create art for an exhibit that will be open for one week. Art exhibits must have a theme, be based on individual's own work and should be professionally displayed. Amey and Hackett created their exhibit around ruminant, or “chewing the cud.”
Hackett told the audience, “our work fit together on a more conceptual level rather than a visual level.” Amey said, “We came to realize that both our work stems from a place in which we like to dwell.”
Hackett and Amey said they wanted their viewers to think about things that they see every day and why they make you feel uncomfortable.
In the background, there were sounds of people chewing and swallowing, an audio piece they created to add sensory effect to the show. The paintings showed people eating, photographs of people covered in chocolate, a ceramic smoking bird and even some tongues dripping in saliva. All the pieces of art were made to confuse the mind and make people really think about the things that make people uncomfortable. Sophomore computer science major Olivia Langley said, “I felt like I needed to wipe my mouth or something after looking at Teagan's paintings.”
“Creating the show wasn't an easy task,” said Hackett, “pieces broke, installations didn't work, and drills aren't always a good friend.” Amey said, “We never settled for anything and pushed until we loved every piece of it. Even if that meant a date with 5 a.m.”
Hackett and Amey spoke about how their color choices were an expression of their emotions when creating the work. Hackett’s soft pastels come from places of peace and calmness. Amey’s bright colors help show the detail of the food being chewed and digested.
After months of hard work, Amey and Hackett said they believed their show was successful.
Junior art major Anna Kamphaus, said, “It showed wonderful parallels between the gross and beautiful.”
