2022 LSU Gumbo - Book - Page 165
All students come to this university in search of a higher
education, but a select few stumble upon their higher
purpose in the form of art. The new “Layers” exhibition in
the Student Union has helped those students express their
newfound or existing love for art, regardless of their majors.
Featuring pieces ranging from a dress made entirely
of soda tabs to a more traditional oil painting on wood,
the exhibition is an impressive and eclectic display of the
talents possessed by LSU artists.
Since the Union Art Gallery has been unable to feature
new exhibitions due to COVID-19, “Layers” is the very
first student exhibition of the year. The exhibition was
made possible by the leadership of Exhibition Curator and
Juror Cecelia Moseley, president of the LSU Society of
Sculptures, who organized an opening reception on Feb. 23.
“This has been a really awesome opportunity to bring
community and artists together,” Moseley said. “Every
student in this exhibition, it’s actually the first exhibition
that they’ve been a part of. That’s been really awesome to
hear them get super excited.”
The Society of Sculptors, The Painters League, and The
Printmaking Guild all put together the exhibition in only
21 days. Exhibition Jurors Moseley, Amanda Farris and
Paul Gomez chose from 68 submissions and narrowed the
selection down to an exclusive 32 pieces to be displayed.
For Moseley it has been extremely rewarding to be able
to create a space for young artists who are still looking to
prove to themselves and their loved ones how hard they
will work to pursue their passions.
“For a lot of these students, it’s hard to become an artist
because it’s hard to talk to your families about becoming an
artist and changing from a biochem major or an accounting
major and really pursuing art,” she said. “So, them being
proud of what they made and being able to tell their
parents is a really exciting thing.”
Mark Muguga, a sports administration sophomore, has
his artwork featured in the exhibition entitled “In Black,”
which is a charcoal drawing on paper piece. Muguga worked
on his piece for over a semester, completing nearly 14
sketches along the way.
“In darkness, sometimes things seem to be more still,”
he said. “What I wanted to create in this piece was that
stillness. That was my aim, just to try and create a balance.”
Muguga uses his artistic abilities to reflect on his culture
and identity. Art grants him the ability to expand his
voice and reach other people like him who feel like their
identities are being repressed.
“If I’m working on my pieces, I am able to create things
that I feel are not being expressed: my moods, my feelings
and what I feel society needs to know about,” he said.
For Muguga, art is an extremely powerful form of selfadvocacy and empowerment. It can bring representation to
individuals and their cultures, bolstering communities with
pride and celebration. He said it is essential that someone
speak out and advocate for themself, rather than have
someone else speak on their behalf. By finding their voice
and using it to speak out for their community, a person will
be able to grow more as an artist and have a greater impact.
Studio Art major Sophia Morstead had her oil-on-canvas
piece, entitled “Shadow Self,” on display, to showcase the
edgier side of human fragility.
“Your shadow self is someone that has faults, like a
darker side,” she said.
For Morstead, art has always been her primary outlet of
expression. Like many of the other artists at the exhibit, she
turns to it when looking to make sense of her emotions and
conflicts.
“I’ve always grown up doing art; it’s just a way for me to
escape any struggles. It’s almost like therapy for me,” she said.
Graphic Design major Jaden Degeyter created one of the
most stand-out pieces in the exhibit. Degeyter’s free-form
sculpture is also a wearable dress made with 2,789 soda tabs,
weighing nearly four pounds.
“The inspiration behind it is kinda just taking trash and
elevating it to an artistic standard,” Degeyter said. “I was
inspired by pop art with a twist of a 1920s flapper girl dress.
I just wanted to elevate the idea of reusing and recycling, so
it’s kind of bringing awareness to environmental issues.”
Degeyter worked on the dress over a seven-day period,
putting in eight hours of work each day. To help push
through the pain she listened to two audiobooks in their
entirety.
“I wanted to give up so many times. My fingers would
hurt and bleed and I was like, ‘It’s not going to come
together,’” she said. “But I knew that in the end, it would
be beautiful. It was in my head and I wanted it to be out in
public so other people could experience it.”
Although the payoff of creating this dress has been
immensely rewarding, Degeyter’s journey on the way to
making the piece was no straight shot. Like many of the
other students featured in the exhibit, a passion for art is
something she didn’t initially lean into.
“I was originally in nursing and I rediscovered my love
for art,” she said. “My second year into nursing, I dropped
it and went to art school and totally immersed myself in
everything art. I took sculpture classes and digital design
classes, just to figure out what I wanted to do.”
Once she decided to commit to pursuing art, she was
able to fully appreciate it as an extension of herself. While
wearing a gorgeous wide-brimmed black hat complemented
by a pair of earrings mimicking cigarettes, Degeyter
explained that she utilizes art in every aspect of the way
she presents herself. With every accessory and every bold
eyeliner look, she is artistically expressing herself on an
everyday basis.
“I just think that to express yourself is the way to live.
You’re not actually living if you’re not expressing yourself,”
Degeyter said.
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