The first wave of graduating seniors in the School of Art and Design are showing off their projects at the Visual Arts Center.

From Nov. 6 to Nov. 9, the art of Kaitlin Blatt, Chris Mathers, Steven Phelix and Alex Stanwick will be on display, rounding out their years at the university.

Phelix used digital painting to represent the fears of clowns, public speaking, teeth and large bodies of water in four 40 by 27 inch illustrations.

“There is nothing more terrifying than what the human mind can conjure up,” Phelix said in his capstone statement. “And applying this concept into four digital illustrations is a perfect way to bring something constructing to an otherwise destructive mentality.”

These illustrations were made to bring to light fears that are both well-known and not well-known, as well as to help understand what people go through with these fears.

Graphic design major Stanwick and his pieces covered painting and animation and was done with the intention to help define why people make art.

His pieces included a triptych that represented the three tools artist use, the brain, the heart and the hand, and two similar paintings, with one being a traditional landscape painting and the other being a landscape painting done in different colors, mainly red and purple. Stanwick said the latter was made to contrast the former to show that art doesn’t always have to be taken seriously.

Stanwick also submitted an animated cartoon based on his dreams and paper towels used to clean his brushes, saying that he put them together because he like the way they look.

Blatt’s work was a piece with paintings of three female saints, St. Katherine, St. Perpetua and St. Olga, from the Eastern Orthodox Faith combined with pedestals and hanging vigil lamps.

“Religion is seen as an oppressive thing, especially to women,” Blatt said. “And I wanted to bring my traditions and my faith that is completely not oppressive because we venerate these strong female saints and value them highly. So, I wanted to bring that kind of setting and that kind of mentality into a fine arts setting.”

The photography of Mathers was taken around his home and hometown and was edited and run through filters to create a psychedelic effect.

A long time comic book artist, Mathers switched to photography within his college career and edited his photos to give a cartoon effect to real world locations

The second tier of students will display their works from Nov. 13-16.

Landon Mitchell can be reached at [email protected].