Fall senior show opens Dec. 3 in Fredonia’s Marion Art Gallery

The fall senior show “Expressive Theory” opens at the Cathy and Jesse Marion Art Gallery with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 3.

On display through Dec. 9, the exhibition includes artwork by four graduating seniors: Jaivanni Henegan (Drawing/Painting), Faith Kleese (Photography), Kayla Prigg (Drawing/Painting) and Madeline Keenan (Drawing/Painting and Ceramics).

The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.

The exhibition participants chose the title “Expressive Theory” to describe what their artwork has in common — emotional health and memories. Expressive theory in art is a focus on portraying the unique, individual feelings and emotions of the artist or evaluating art according to those unique, individual feelings.

Jaivanni Henegan’s (Brooklyn) painting series “Unconditional Transparency” is about the unhealthy habit of suppressing emotions and disregarding one’s mental and spiritual well-being.

In her photographs about mental health disorders such as OCD, anxiety, and abnormal eating habits, Faith Kleese (Angola) becomes the main character to illustrate these disorders.

Kayla Prigg (Silver Creek) writes of her portrait series “After Death,” “each portrait has a gold leaf halo, some solid, some ringed, and some more distorted than others. The halo represents the idea that you do not know if the person in the portrait is dead, alive, or even real.”

Madeline Keenan (Batavia) describes her painting series, “Hiraeth,” as a fixation on nostalgia and the path to emotional growth. Hiraeth is a Welsh word that has no direct English translation; it is a mixture of longing, yearning, nostalgia, wistfulness or an earnest desire for the past.

“Expressive Theory” is supported by the Department of Visual Arts and New Media, Fredonia College Foundation’s Cathy and Jesse Marion Endowment Fund and the Friends of Rockefeller Arts Center.

Gallery hours are: Tuesday through Thursday noon to 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday noon to 6 p.m., Sunday noon to 4 p.m. and by appointment. The gallery is located on the main level of Rockefeller Arts Center.

For more information or a group tour of the exhibition, contact gallery director Barbara Räcker at 716-673-4897 or email.