The William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art’s newest exhibit has been on display since March 20, showcasing the artwork of eight upperclassmen in the art capstone class. The pieces were selected by the artists and are all inspired by various concepts and created with different art mediums. “The In-Between: Senior Art Exhibit 2025″ delves into the artists’ past and present, highlighting each artist’s journey.
The overall theme of the exhibit was determined collectively by the capstone group.
“The show was about, kind of, the journey from childhood and adulthood. I think, collectively, as a group, we all decided on that just because the big transitions were going on,” senior Beau Amber Bakhitar said.
Senior Sophie Kaufman presented her piece that was inspired by her transition of moving from Kansas to California.
“For my body of work in particular, I focused on my, kind of, journey to Cal Lu in the past two years. I’m a transfer student,” Kaufman said.
Kaufman’s art piece leaned into nature because she said she felt more connected with that environment. For her style of art, she chose photography because it is hands on.
“Photography is something that I have been doing since high school. I was lucky and had a really great high school photography teacher who’s very encouraging and got me into submitting things into contests, and yeah, made me feel like I was an artist as well,” Kaufman said.
Bakhtiar said she submitted four pieces to present in the gallery; one drawing and three oil paintings. For Bakhtiar, she said this show was part of the process of graduating, and to her, it may be why “it became so personal.”
For Bakhtiar’s pieces, she said she used a mix of personal story and fantasy in some of her pieces.
“I’m really into fantasy, and I have two Alice paintings, Alice in Wonderland paintings. And I thought that was a great thing to showcase, because I know there is a lot of interpretations with Alice in Wonderland, but what I get and what a lot of other people get is kind of her growing up,” Bakhtiar said.
Junior Jiaying Chen said she chose oil painting as her art medium of choice and decided to incorporate images of butterflies in her piece.
“One of the thematic elements I incorporate in my creations is butterflies. This is because I personally love butterflies. They have various patterns, styles and colors. Therefore, I choose to use AI to draw the content I desire. Butterflies symbolize freedom, and in my heart, they represent transformation, evolving from the form of a silkworm cocoon to a butterfly, which is a kind of rebirth,” Chen wrote in an email interview.
Chen said that the reason she chose her piece was because of her experiences as an international student.
“Another reason why I chose the butterfly is that it transforms from a cocoon into a butterfly, which is also a difficult process. I resonated with this process because I am a Chinese international student. When I was sixteen, I came to the United States to start my study abroad journey. At first, I didn’t adapt to life here. The language barrier made me need to become independent and rely on myself instead of my parents. I needed to learn English to integrate into American life,” Chen wrote. “I completed my high school education in the United States and gradually learned to be independent and cook by myself. Although this process was not easy and required a firm heart, it also made me better and more diligent.”
Overall every artist said they were excited for their art to be on display and share their experiences with an audience of people.
The Gallery is open from Wednesday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free for all art lovers wishing to see these students’ work. “The In-Between: Senior Art Exhibit 2025” will have its last day for viewing on May 16.
