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Seventeen Zeroes
Riley Fleming
Watercolor and magazine collage on paper, 9 x 12 in.
Seventeen Zeroes serves as a unique exploration of individuality and creative expedition. The title, Seventeen Zeroes, was chosen to reflect the seven quintillion individual grains of sand on Earth that bridges together our oceans with us. This is mirrored by the individual magazine scraps utilized to bring a scale pattern to the freshwater salmon serving as the subject. This piece is a testament of impulsivity and unity.
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Opal Glow
Riley Fleming
Acrylic on canvas, 9 x 12 in.
Opal Glow serves as an attempt at mastery at a famously difficult technique in art. It builds up underpainted layers, combining a pale subject with a stark navy background, to create a gently glowing effect. For this piece, the goal was to replicate the ethereal, almost alien beauty present in creatures at the bottom of the sea. Gels were mixed into some of the paints to build their thickness and expand their palette of textures.
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Artificial Life
Ava Stading
Colored pencil, 11 x 17 in.
Artificial Life explores how overstimulating urban architecture and technology can repel through a desperate attempt to appeal. This 11×17 colored pencil work depicts a dystopian cityscape where glowing advertisements consume all negative space, creating a sense of claustrophobia. By layering neon hues over deep shadows and eliminating pencil texture, I achieved a slick, manufactured blur that mimics digital screens. This composition reflects the isolation of being trapped in a relentless system. Ultimately, the piece highlights the lack of humanity in environments so saturated with information they feel empty of life, leaving the individual overwhelmed and alone.
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Inertia
Ava Stading
Colored pencil and acrylic on multi-media paper, 18 x 18 in.
Inertia examines the psychological weight of silent suppression and the hollowed state of appearing “functional” while collapsing internally. This close-up depicts a porcelain doll with chalky skin, her face fractured by gold kintsugi cracks that symbolize trauma and resilient repair. While her features are molded into a mask of perfection, her bloodshot, vibrant eyes remain a raw window to inner turmoil. A suffocating void of black hair fills the background, representing the claustrophobic pressure to remain composed. The piece invites viewers to look past the surface and acknowledge the endurance of a soul held together by threads.
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Influence of a Feast
Ava Stading
Acrylic on canvas, 9 x 12 in.
This artwork depicts a lavish dinner feast where a group of world leaders is gathered around a table, featuring a roasted pig gagged with an apple as the centerpiece. In a striking compositional choice, all the men stare directly and unnervingly at the viewer. The piece is designed to uncover the hidden tensions of the global elite, exposing the eerie, almost cult-like behavior inherent in these exclusive gatherings. By confronting the audience with their unsettling gaze and the overt symbolism of the gagged pig, the artwork ultimately explores complex social constructs and the overarching themes of silencing and systemic suppression.