The first show of this year’s Point Loma Nazarene University senior art exhibitions, “Reflections” by Katie Segarra, a graphic design major, was a hit with PLNU students, staff and community members. During the exhibit’s reception on Feb. 18, visitors munched on macaroons and sipped sparkling water while viewing Segarra’s works.
Segarra said she came up with the idea for “Reflections” in a PLNU study abroad fashion class in Italy. While walking around Florence with her sketchbook for inspiration, she noticed how many pages were full of drawings from her travels. These small sketches became five large-scale paintings of items as dresses representing New York, Paris, Segarra’s home, Orlando and Florence, and a dress sculpture made out of canvas material.
All of the objects – an umbrella, chandelier, pool float, carousel, streetlight and leather jacket – reflect light differently. Like the fleeting, quick moment that light is captured on a shiny surface, memories are just as temporary and precious.
“Memories remain one of those truly intangible beauties of life, made tangible again only through our imaginations,” Segarra said in her exhibition description.
Segarra’s ethereal, soft painting style in a pastel palette brings the viewer into her recollection and allows them to share in the experience of each place, by emulating the dreamy, hazy way nostalgia may feel.
“The surrealism [of the art] is like that of a memory or a dream,” Segarra said.
Every Tuesday from Feb. 17 to May 10 from 6-8 p.m., a new senior art exhibition will be hosted in PLNU’s Keller Gallery. Entry and refreshments are free, and the gallery will be open to the public for the week.
Keller Gallery’s next two art shows will be hosted by Kaylee Carlton and Sasha Riedell.
“‘Desperada’ is a love letter to my home, the West and the American Cowboy, highlighting a resilient and inspiring group of women who challenge a variety of social constructs that need more representation,” Carlton, a visual arts major, said about her photography show “Desperada.”
“My senior show is titled ‘Way Out West’ and it’s a collection of photographs I have taken over the past year documenting Western America and cowboy culture,” Riedell, a visual arts major, said. “The photos in my show are a documentation of people, places and animals in different states throughout the American West including California, Utah, Wyoming and Montana.”
The full gallery schedule for all 10 seniors is available on the PLNU Art and Design Instagram @plnuartdesign.
Tessa Balc