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The Necessity of a Wandering Consciousness


Working together in the Goodyear studio, the 2012 senior studio-art majors noticed something curious: The subjects that fascinated them most also were the most elusive.

For Jennifer Crowley ’12, it was that instant of recognition when a photographer catches a subject by surprise—and vice-versa. For Samantha Stahl ’12, it was the moments just after rain. May Beattie ’12, celebrates the happenstance beauty of unusually interpreted found objects and the impromptu environments they create. Rena Collector ’12 was interested in the interdependent portraits and figure studies she created as part of drawing, printmaking and painting processes. Megan Alley ’12 highlighted the lines and shapes generating from seemingly hovering and unstable forms.

The resulting bodies of work are presented in the 2012 senior studio-art exhibition, The Necessity of a Wandering Consciousness. The show opened continues through May 20. [Story continues below.] 


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  • Megan Alley '12 constructed this untitled piece from steel, wire and aluminum. Like her other works in this exhibition, it seems to emerge from the gallery walls and suspend in midair. "I am interested in the tension that can develop from hovering objects, forms that appear potentially unstable and the dynamics created from an object that is threatening contact with the viewer," she writes.
    Megan Alley '12
  • May Beattie '12's piece "Touch" is composed of plastic trash bags, wire and glue. "Re-forming materials into the unintended can lead to strange and sometimes absurd juxtapositions," writes Beattie, who created several interactive works.
    May Beattie '12
  • Rena Collector '12 created "Group" as a representation of the many processes toward more traditionally "finished" works. "Placing the pieces in a fluid, somewhat disheveled unit underscores a shifting dynamic between those figures," she writes.
    Rena Collector '12
  • Jennifer Crowley '12 snapped portraits of people in their beds. "As the subject locks eyes with the viewer it is unclear whether it is a confrontational gaze ... or a passive acceptance," she writes.
    Jennifer Crowley '12
  • "There is a mysterious and wonderfully elusive world that is unveiled when it rains, which is both transient ... and strange," writes Samantha Stahl '12.
    Samantha Stahl '12
Megan Alley '12 constructed this untitled piece from steel, wire and aluminum. Like her other works in this exhibition, it seems to emerge from the gallery walls and suspend in midair. "I am interested in the tension that can develop from hovering objects, forms that appear potentially unstable and the dynamics created from an object that is threatening contact with the viewer," she writes.Prev ImageNext Image

According to Professor of Art Ward Davenny, the exhibition is testament to the rewards of a long and demanding creative process. “Full of fits and starts, working in the studio can seem a chaotic affair, full of dead-ends and neglected opportunities,” he noted. “Yet the process of bringing order to one’s ideas and finding the logic and progression of those ideas … is tremendously exciting.”

Alley agreed. Asked how it felt to finally show her work after months of studio time, she said, “It’s great to see it in a formal setting. It has a whole different language here.”

On Fri., May 4, 5 p.m., you can check out the exhibition and stop by the First Friday Art Walk reception at The Trout Gallery.

By MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson