On Thursday, April 18, Sonoma State University’s Art Gallery premiered its annual student exhibition to campus visitors. Five students expecting to graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree presented various original pieces of art in different sections of the gallery. The artwork ranged from oil paintings to handcrafted sculptures. The exhibit will be open for visitors until Saturday, May 18. 

    Interim Gallery Director/Gallery Coordinator Claudia Molloy collaborated with the instructor for the BFA senior seminar class Eileen Parent to select the best pieces within the students’ body of work, then laid it out in the gallery based on space and the need for the artworks. Each student’s artwork focuses on a different emphasis, with the 2024 BFA exhibition featuring a printmaker, photographer and three painters. 

    Andrew Olson, a fourth-year art studio student, was one of the five student artists displaying their work at the BFA Exhibition. Olson presented five compositions during the exhibition, one of which was a self-portrait based on the video game “Elden Ring.” Olson hopes to work in painting and visual effects post-graduation.

    Margaret Ahvenainen, another fourth-year art student, presented six compositions during the BFA exhibition. Ahvenainen’s primary artistic muses were her experiences with mental health and personal loss. “I wanted to acknowledge the dark space, but also the hope and work that it takes to pull yourself out of that,” Ahvenainen said. “This society doesn’t give you much space to feel anxiety, depression, and grief, and I wanted to give people that space.”

    Ash Gregorio, who is expected to graduate in the fall, incorporated themes of childhood and adulthood into her work. Gregorio’s compositions chronicled her current transition between life stages, featuring bright color schemes and other child-like elements. “It shows women who are definitely adults, but they’re in spaces surrounded by stuffed animals and yarn,” Gregorio said.

    Now a tattoo artist, Gregorio hopes to commission her art after graduation while also working in art direction. “I want to use the techniques and skills that I learned in college to promote myself as an artist,” Gregorio said.

    Sophia Miller, a fourth-year student, said seeing her artwork presented in the professional setting of the art gallery was rewarding because a lot of work went into her pieces. “A lot of my art centers around the flow of consciousness and my thoughts that I express through my artwork,” Miller said, “I use a lot of objects in my art that stand in the place of a person or memory.” Miller hopes viewers will take away from the exhibition that they can use art as a way to express their thoughts and feelings about their lives. After graduating, she wants to pursue an MFA and become an educator. Her goal is to continue making artwork and to work at an art gallery. 

    Owen Martinez-Alejandre focuses on the relationship between family and familiar objects within his artwork. “For me, art is a meditative process. Especially when it comes to painting,” Martinez-Alejandre said, “I think about what I’m going to paint, how I’m going to paint it, and the message I’m trying to convey to my audience.” He said that before attending Sonoma State with a BFA in painting he didn’t have the opportunity to paint as much. “Now that I have my own studio space and projects to look forward to, it has helped me push my artistic abilities and develop a strong work ethic.” After graduating, he hopes to continue making art independently as well as working on community-centered art projects.