VA seniors kick off their first show “Beneath the Folds”
The promotion poster for the show, designed by VA students. Photo by Macy Waddle.
January 23, 2022
The Visual Art magnet’s first senior showcase “Beneath the Folds” wrapped up on Jan. 6, having run a total of 9 days and being admired by countless individuals. Each senior has been divided into a group, each given a different theme to work with. This group included Anna Emberson, Nicole Farnsley, Hailey Miles, Lauren Minor, Jenna Kramer, Amanda Cobain Batista, Erica McCracken, Meghan Bottorff and Miranda Moore.
Each theme is decided on by the members of that showcase.
“We had a meeting where we brainstormed themes and picked our favorite. Anna Emberson suggested doing paper cranes and origami, which we were all super excited about,” Nicole Farnsley (12, VA) said.
So where’d this idea come from?
“It came from a memory from Mr. Curtis’s Drawing/Painting 2 class during our sophomore year, when he had all of the sophomores make so many paper cranes and then draw them for a project,” Anna Emberson (12, VA) said, “We decided that an installation of origami as our theme would be a good representation of our time in VA.”
Seniors handpicked the pieces they’d like to display, of which could come from any VA class. Clothing items, paintings, 3D art and more were featured throughout the gallery. For Emberson, most pieces come from AP Drawing, AP 2D Design and AP 3D Design. She aimed to address questions from different aspects of her life through this artwork compilation.
“My AP Drawing portfolio from junior year explored the effects that depression and anxiety have in my life and the pieces ‘Wallflower’, ‘Wear Your Heart On Your Sleeve’ ‘I’m Bojack’ and ‘Untitled’ all relate to this common theme,” Emberson said, “…the piece ‘I’m Bojack’ isn’t the most developed piece of my portfolio, however, the meaning behind this piece is very important to me.”
She also included many sustainable fashion pieces throughout the exhibit, which came from her AP 3D portfolio.
“I intend on majoring in fashion in college and I wanted to cater my AP 3D portfolio to that,” Emberson said.
Jenna Kramer decided to step out of her comfort zone with her submissions and elaborated on her favorite piece.
“I think maybe SeaSun? It was a pretty ambitious piece coming from me, and everyone knows how hard rendering hands is,” Kramer said.
These senior showcases will continue to be held periodically throughout the year in the VA Art Gallery, giving an opportunity for each group to display their hard work and creations. Stay tuned for more to come.
