KPU fine arts event celebrates graduating students’ artwork

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Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s fine arts department opened an exhibit on April 5 at the Surrey campus to celebrate the work and accomplishments of its graduating class.

The show “Quixotic,” which means exceedingly idealistic, visionary, or romantic, features the art of more than 10 graduates with installations inside the Spruce building’s atrium and room 140 alongside the library in the Arbutus building.

Graduating fine arts student Jovi Lam, who has studied at KPU since 2015, exhibited three abstract drawings from her series Blind Recollections.

Lam used charcoal pastel and Conté crayon mediums to draw on paper, directly on the wall in the atrium, and through screen printing, a process where she took a photo of her drawings and transferred it onto a paper using ink, a squeegee, and a mesh screen.

She drew this project blindfolded and paid attention to things in the present moment, such as the pressure of her feet, the stillness of the ground, and what she heard.

“My inspiration is, as I was doing all my courses, I found that the way I work was that I was very strict on myself. When I see a line I make, I would critique it immediately after. That led to a lot of frustration,” Lam says.

“For this course [this semester], I wanted to get myself away from that mindset and change gears, feel a bit more positive about myself, so I decided to blindfold myself so I don’t have anything I can see.”

During the beginning of the art show, Lam added to her drawing on the wall — while blindfolded by a black disposable face mask — for attendees to watch.

Emma Campbell’s series, A Sense of Familiarity, can also be found in the Spruce Atrium. Campbell, who has studied at KPU since 2015, used the software Adobe Photoshop to digitally draw her three transit-focused pieces.

While “Back and Forth” features arrows in reference to the only two directions passengers can travel in the SkyTrain, “All the Noise” next to it focuses on the sounds heard while taking buses and trains. Near this piece is also a speaker playing a track of recorded transit sounds.

Her third piece, “Entertainment on Public Transit,” covers the different apps people use to entertain themselves or get directions and depicts the icons of platforms like Google Maps and TikTok on bus seats.

“I think [my art is] just an expression of myself, and it gives me freedom and [the ability] to tell stories in a unique way without saying words,” Campbell says.

“I’ve been drawing since I can remember. It’s something that just brings me joy. It’s a lot of fun. It’s something I’m just very good at, and I feel like it gives people a sense of familiarity I think in my observations in the world.”

Inside the gallery in room 140 is where Sandy Sun’s mixed-media project “The punishment” is installed. Sun, who started studying at KPU in 2019, focused on the safety and health of younger generations. As a mother, she looked towards the murder of a 13-year-old girl in a Burnaby park to bring attention to what people can do for young people.

Sun based the project on Chinese mythology about hell, which has 18 levels with their own functions. Her installation features hanging fabrics of cyanotype and anthotype prints, which are camera-less ways of developing photographic images under the sun.

The images depict a fire dragon, where the ninth level of hell is being burned by the creature for doing something bad, such as killing. Sun repainted one of the fabrics with beetroot juice, which represents everyone deserving a sweet life, like the flavour of the juice. There are also masks made from cyanotype over plaster and painted ceramics, which represent covering internal demons, Sun says.

Also in room 140 is Myrel Ofiana’s installation “wayawaya,” which means freedom in the Ilocano language. Ofiana, who has been a KPU student since 2017, explored grief and anger for her mixed-media project.

“I’ve had trouble trying to suppress anger a lot. So I decided, ‘Why don’t I visually show it through destruction, construction, [and] reconstruction?’” Ofiana says.

“I make a sculpture and then I break it down myself. Then, I show the remnants to show the cycle of grief. At first, you build up that anger that’s stuck inside you. It builds up and builds up. And then that part when you’re starting to beat it up, that’s the release. Afterwards, you feel more open and clear.”

She wanted to explore these themes because she wanted to look at using grief as a tool. The installation shows debris from the partly destroyed abstract sculpture made of materials like Styrofoam, plaster, plastic knives, and feathers. The artwork also references Filipino funerary practices, especially chicken beheadings.

A projected video also plays on the wall, where Ofiana can be seen and heard breaking the sculpture.

The annual event also featured an awards ceremony for fine arts students. KPU President Alan Davis along with faculty of arts leadership Shelley Boyd, Melinda Bige, and Alena Buis presented awards to students.