By Katherine Hatcher | Staff Writer
Walking into Nashville, Tenn., senior Emmeline Scott’s Bachelor of Fine Arts exhibition was a surreal, yet freeing experience that invited others to share their struggles.
This exploration of life, death, anger and abuse took place in the Martin Museum of Art from 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday night.
Baylor’s BFA program includes several studio classes and opportunities. Before graduation each year, students put on a showcase as a thesis. Every BFA student has a concentration, and Scott’s is printmaking.
The Martin Museum of Art’s director Allison Chew said that senior BFA exhibitions are hosted every semester depending on how many graduates the program has, allowing students to apply their skills outside of the classroom.
“It’s stepping outside of the studio space where you’re constantly making and then you’re figuring out how to communicate,” Chew said.
Although Scott said she enjoys printmaking, she had the idea to use a vast array of artistic elements, including lithographs, screen and relief prints, etches and more in her showcase.
“Everything had to include printmaking on it, but I gravitate more towards mixed media and sculptural stuff,” Scott said. “So I knew I wouldn’t have fun or be satisfied with just prints on the wall, and so I was just trying to come up with more of an installation.”
Scott spoke about the inspiration and heart behind her exhibit, saying that her exhibition was a visual representation of what is going on in her mind. Additionally, she said the exhibit reflects on hard times such as her father’s passing this past summer.
“It’s really just giving me an interesting perspective. … I made this mostly to give myself a place to sit and rest,” Scott said.
She incorporates her own thoughts, writings, sketches and plans across the exhibit.
Chew said this exhibition is special because it demonstrates Scott’s process in reaching her final product.
“This one’s always cool to me, because … I really like that she’s got her sketches, and things like that, again, show behind the scenes and process ideas behind the finished pieces,” Chew said.
Part of Scott’s exhibition included two lines of pews, each with two rows. Each pew represented a different archangel, such as the archangels of communication and protection. She said that when people sat in the pews, they would get what they need.
Along with displaying Scott’s ideas and inspiration, the exhibit also has religious allusions, such as a quote from Dante Alighieri’s work, “Inferno.” Writing on a large telephone booth reads, “Abandon hope all ye who enter here.” Scott said that her religious background has been a circular journey of losing her faith and gaining it back.
“So pretty much that was just an exploration of how I’ve always felt, like I’ve been calling out to God or whoever … and I just feel like no one ever really was answering,” Scott said.
Even though creating her exhibition has been therapeutic and fun for her, Scott said she desired to create a somber place that relieved others’ burdens as well, like in her interactive pieces, one of which was a sculpture where people could write their struggles and pin them to a body.
“I really just wanted to make a place where people can sit and kind of reflect on stuff that they avoid,” Scott said.
Throughout her exhibition, Scott said that she wanted people to feel relieved and healed after attending and experiencing the exhibit.
“I just kind of wanted to encourage people to sit with those darker, like sadder thoughts because by not ignoring it, that’s kind of how you grow and heal,” Scott said.
