Kaitlyn Stockton
Copy Editor
On March 7-8, three Cameron University art students and a professor displayed their works of art in the Momentum OKC 2014 exhibition.
CU students Hailey Harris, Ashley Brown and Sarah Darling participated in the prestigious show alongside CU Instructor of Graphic Design Dave Kube.
The Oklahoma Visual Art Council presented the exhibition from 8 p.m. to midnight both days in the OKC’s Farmer’s Market. Tickets were $10 to view the gallery online and $15 to visit the exhibition in person.
Senior Harris said she submitted three pieces to the show for the chance to see her artwork among young Oklahoman artists.
“The goal of the show was to allow artists the opportunity to meet and work with fellow artists, and see what they are are doing in Oklahoma,” Harris said.
After the show, the curators allowed the artists to mingle with one another outside of the gallery setting.
“The best of the best were accepted,” Harris said. “It felt great. This is a really good show for students who are about to graduate from college. The event is completely geared towards us.”
Harris’s work “Land of the Plains” was picked for the show. While the linocut piece features intricate lines portraying a mother bird and a growing bug among staples of Oklahoma, for Harris, the piece depicts her personal evolution. The artwork represents her growth as an artist under the guidance of her professor Katherine Liontas-Warren.
“To others it looks like another ‘Oklahoman’ artwork, but it really represents how far I have grown as an artist thanks to my printmaking professor,” she said. “The bird represents her, and the bug represents me. I am finally ‘leaving the nest’ I created at Cameron and venturing out on my own as a well-educated artist.”
Kube said he was surprised to find his piece “Pyramid” accepted to the show as his artwork differs from traditional forms. His masterpiece depicts Egypt’s wonders with a new twist.
“It’s new work which is exciting because it is experimental. I have applied it to other shows, but it doesn’t get accepted because it is new, and people don’t know what to do with it yet,” he said. “Someone wants to put it in a show. That’s what I am excited about.”
Kube said he was proud to see so many students not only represent the Art Department but also Cameron University.
“It’s really exciting,” Kube said. “It was a stiff competition.”
Junior Sarah Darling and sophomore Ashley Brown joined Harris and Kube in the show. Harris said she was proud of her fellow students as it is rare for younger classmen to receive such opportunities.
“For anyone to get into a show before they are a senior, are about to graduate or have a full body of work, it is really amazing,” Harris said. “It is a really good booster for them to enter the art world.”
The senior said she was also excited to attend the show as the displayed artwork opened her eyes to a whole new world.
“This show is ridiculous. The stuff is all new. They are all upcoming artists,” Harris said. “I get really excited looking at this stuff because it is nothing like mine. They break outside of all the educational terms I have been learning.
“I want to meet some of the artists to ask about their work. I feel like I’ve hit a wall of school, and I need to enter this world.”
Kube said he believes students should view the artwork as it features work different from the norm.
“It’s unlike a lot of work people assume art is about. People typically think of art being boring like a landscape or picture of animals,” Kube said. “This is radically different. It probably resonates more with students.
“These are artists that have some education in art history and stuff,” Harris said, “but instead of following in past artists’ footsteps, they are recreating the meaning of art.”