One of the specialties of the Kent School Art Department is the amazing exhibitions of student artwork regularly held in the Walkway Gallery (the walkway that connects Field Dorm and the Mattison Auditorium). Ms. Jenna Lynch, the chair of the Art Department, curated this particular exhibition to show “the way to be human.”

The title of the exhibition was ‘Portraits; Real and Imagined,’ which contained artworks from Stanley Hsia ’19 and Davis Humphrey ’19. In this exhibition, Hsia expressed his portraits using abstract forms to portray the theme “how to be human,” creating unique depictions with the careful usage of white and black. Contrastingly, Humphrey’s artwork was alive with color and highly detailed, resembling baroque styled artwork.

Commenting on their artwork, Ms. Lynch states, “The ways that they were capturing the complexity of the human condition was so compelling, and I thought the juxtaposition of having one abstract work, and the one precise and baroque piece would be captivating to look at.”

She explains, since she had two different styles of artwork, it inspired her to curate the exhibition to show the distinct differences between the two styles, so that she could highlight the “juxtaposition” between the two artworks. She tells us that this exhibition “was oppositional in the best way to show the distinct juxtaposition.”

Next year, these two amazing artists from the Kent community are pursuing their dreams. Humphrey will be heading to Rhode Island School of Design next year, and Hsia is heading to University of Arts London, majoring in Fashion Business.

The last exhibition of the year will be the AP Studio Art students’ work, which will contain works from the most artistically talented students in Kent. Be sure to take a peek at the pleasing artwork that will be displayed in the Walkway Gallery.