By Beulah Supriya

In the lobby of the School of Arts (SofA), the final projects of the fall 2014 VSAR 301 students are for view to all until the end of April.

The beautiful art pieces look so flawless though they were the result of one and half month of hard work. There are different types of mediums ranging from photography to sculpture and it is interesting to know how they reflect many of the same influences yet reach different sensibilities and interpretations.

The class is called Materials and Structure of art exhibition in which the book  “Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art After 1980” played a crucial role. The class learned a number of themes throughout the semester that they coordinated to their art pieces such as “Time”, “Identity” and “Science”. They also had field trips and artist research assignments that added areas of influence.

“Art is a mirror through which we look at the world,” Professor Judit Hersko said.

Tiersa Cosaert, one of the students in her class, created a project known as a curiosity cabinet. She had an interest in both art and science, which is very evident through the various sculptures, owl pellets and other interesting objects in the cabinet. She is currently a junior with experience in sculpting from age 16.

Cosaert spoke highly of the class and the projects that she is working on.

“They are cool. I love it, it was a small and intimate class and a lot of effort was put in by all of us for the project,” she said.

Some of the other art pieces were “Tracking Chaos” by Jessamyn Trout, a mother of two, who tracked her movement around her home using GPS and showed it in an interesting way, using her photography and red string.

Professor Hersko said that everything was made by the students themselves, including our own Arts and Entertainment Editor Faith Orcino’s piece that had more than a thousand folded paper stars in “The Wishing Cloud”.

There are various materials and styles shown like a chocolate sculpture by Lauren March, anime-influenced art, protest pieces and much more.

“It is wonderful to see them do their best, to have found a way to express their thoughts,” Hersko said. “In the end, everyone needs to channel ideas in their own way, who they are and their experience.”

Visit Arts 111 and have a glimpse into the minds of these creative cougars.