Up-close // Transparent
A Senior Thesis Exhibition

Reception: April 29, 2021

Our work explores themes such as transparency, permanence, and our relationships with ourselves and nature. In the last year, we all have had plenty of time to reflect on ourselves and our relationships. This show is a culmination of the discoveries we have made during this extended time of retrospection. We all have different ways of working and we’ve taken different paths in our art and our lives but we are all intersecting in this show.

Gretchen Darche is a multimedia artist who is interested in using stained glass and mirrors to represent ideas like transparency, reflections, and the relationship between how we see ourselves and how others see us, and the role that tattoos can have in dictating our self-image. She uses traditional tattoo motifs as well as traditional and original flash designs in her work. The mirrors in her work allow the viewer to see themselves as part of the artwork, and the refractions and shadows of the glass can allow the viewer to “wear” the glass tattoos. 

Gretchen is from northern Rhode Island. She uses many different materials and mediums in her sculpture work. She will be graduating from Montserrat College of Art in May 2021 with a concentration in sculpture and an art history minor.

Jace Ricci is a printmaker who focuses on etching. He works to capture the feeling of both the calm and hitched breath of nature. His work explores the ever so subtle presence of nature. He uses copper plate etching as his main medium and works with the delicacy of line. His smaller works allow the viewer to be able to approach the piece closer up and appreciate the delicate details within the pieces.

Jace is from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. His etching work focuses on smaller linework. He will be graduating from Montserrat College of Art in May 2021, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in printmaking.

Genevieve Rumrill is a photographer whose current work is based around journal entries she made during the beginning of the pandemic to about 6 months in. Within the work, she is exploring the need for intimacy and togetherness while being isolated in a small town having very minimal interaction with anyone outside of immediate family. The work consists of a mix between photography, collage, and bookmaking. She strongly encourages viewers to flip through the pages of the book with hopes that feelings similar to her own are evoked when it's read. 

Genevieve is from Union, Connecticut. Her photography work focuses mainly on Intimacy and our connection to nature. She will be graduating from Montserrat College of Art in May of 2021 with a concentration in Photography, Video, and Film.

Amanda Seaman is a printmaker who specializes in many different forms of printmaking. Throughout her seminar experience, she has experimented with many different printmaking methods. This includes monoprinting, lithography, etching, screen printing and woodblock relief. She has also been experimenting with ballpoint pen drawing, gouache paintings and found objects. Her whole life, Amanda has been inspired by nature especially when it finds its way back after being destroyed by human-made things. This intrigue is what got her into urban exploring in the first place and why she is especially interested in using abandoned building/overgrown nature photography as a reference for her art. Amanda also includes some fantasy based subjects within her work that may remind the viewers of an enchanted forest. She wants her art to be kind of like an escape from reality or a portal into another world. 

Amanda is from Long Island, New York and is currently living in Salem, Massachusetts. She will be graduating from Montserrat College of Art in May 2021 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a concentration in printmaking.