The art students from Bermuda College are presently exhibiting their best work from this school year in the Onion’s Gallery at the Bermuda Society of Arts. The work itself is wide-ranging; from traditional drawing, painting and sculpture, to other more contemporary modes of expression, such as collage, assemblage and installations.

Additionally the students employ a variety of styles, materials and techniques. There are 91 works in the exhibition, produced by 27 students. Almost half are paintings. Because of the size of this exhibition, it is not possible to write about everything. The best I can do is highlight the show as I see it.

Not only is this exhibition wide-ranging in terms of varying styles, tools, materials and techniques; this can also be applied to individual students and at this stage of their development, this is to be encouraged.

Students need to have opportunities to explore all aspects of the contemporary art world. Only then will they be able to intelligently find their own particular area for specialisation.

Christopher Mahoney’s paintings are noted for depictions of fantasy. They are carefully painted and obviously a lot of thought has gone into their creation.

Equally colourful are the paintings of Zahra Aubrey, but her work tends to the expressive. By that I mean, they convey aspects of the inner emotional world. Her paintings somewhat reminded of the work of the German Expressionist, Emil Nolde.

Keva Ingham’s paintings are also examples of Expressionism, but in her case, they show a greater kinship with New York/Caribbean Expressionism and in one case she even entitled her painting ‘Ode to Basquiat’.

Basquiat was a New York artist with Caribbean roots who was noted for his graffiti spray can art.

Also colourful is the work of Cassandra Samuels, but her’s is more thoughtfully, less spontaneously created. An example of her work is ‘Split Personalities’.

Considering colour, Mo’nique Stevens’ ‘After Picasso’ is a highly colourful but personal take on a work that originates in a Cubist painting by Picasso. It is of a woman that appears to be playing cards.

Stephany DeOliveira’s work stands out, not only for its considerable quantity, but also for technical and material variety. In one case she created a series of small framed works called ‘Family Portrait’.

Although they depict people, the work is made by means of a quilted stitchery. Another of her large paintings is ‘Tiger Print’. This painting, a large abstract was, in part, made by means of the airbrush. The background is soft, as is characteristic of sprayed paint, but the black forms that appear as foreground, seem to have been painted by traditional brushwork.

Linda Pacheco is represented in this exhibition with at least six works of art. Most are paintings. I was drawn to her painting called the ‘The Concert’.

Obviously some story is being played out in this painting. Not only does the pianist appear to be weeping, she has no fingers. This is reminiscent of a horrible film called ‘The Piano’, in which a jealous husband chops off his pianist wife’s fingers, but apparently this has nothing to do with the reason the woman in the painting has mutilated hands. Whatever the reason for the fingerless hands, the pianist also has wings and in another aspect of the painting, this being is depicted flying away from this seen of sorrow.

There is another piano player in this show as well. Shakeela Smith is showing an exquisite little ink drawing that depicts a woman playing a piano by lamp light. The technique she used in making this drawing is that of stippling.

Vanessa Bean is most obviously represented in this show by her installation, entitled ‘Windows to your Soul’. She is also showing a drawing called ‘Serenity Flor’. This work, although a pen and ink monochromatic rendering of a flower detail, is notable for its labour intensive use of stipling, which means making the drawing with dots. In this case she made the drawing by using only the point of the pen to create dots and as can be imagined, this is a time consuming task. The end result is a quietly impressive work of art.

Mark Fox is all over the place. I say this not by way of criticism, but to describe his obvious curiosity, energy and daring in attempting so many different approaches to mark making. His small drawing, ‘Relax’, uses sepia, as well as black ink to depict a detail of a wooded garden chair. The work was created by means of hatching and cross-hatching. This is a traditional drawing technique, in which the artist depicts shade by means of drawn parallel lines. His series of paintings called ‘Candy’ is another example of his pushing the painting technique. Here he drags his brush or whatever tool through the paint in order to create a quality of dragging that is effective in making energetic paint lines.

An engaging assemblage is the work called ‘Gears’. The artist, L’oreal Simmons has taken various size gears and has constructed them into a design held together by welding. She then painted them an industrial black, creating a strong presence in that quarter of the gallery. Another three-dimensional work is ‘Where Do Boxes Come From’, by Claudia Fontania. She has produced a series of white box-like, see through frames in which hang smaller box-like objects. The smaller interior objects are in bright colours. The constructivist approach to creating this work is noted for straight lines and pure, primary colours. It is reminiscent of high modernism.

It seems that the students studying three-dimensional design, must have had an assignment on the theme of the box, because, Kimberly Frasher also is showing a work that is based upon the box. In this case, she makes use of mirrors to give a multi-dimensional presentation.

Shirley Almagro’s untitled assemblage has as its base, what appears to be a tall, dark sculpture. This is then enhanced by the addition of appendages, such such as spoons, forks and wires. The spoons and forks have additionally, been manipulated by bending and altering in some way. For example, the forks have had their tines bent into various spirals that gives the impression of fingers, as in Balinese dancing. This takes a work that initially appeared to be static and turned it into what appears to be a kinetic object, although, in truth, the sculpture does not actually move.

There is one disturbingly graphic creation in the exhibition. This is ‘Mort’ by Ari-Jenay Tucker. On an already textured surface, made-up of layers of paint and pieces of newspaper, she has scralled, graffiti-like, in blood red paint, the word, ‘Mort’. It is so graphic, one is stopped in ones tracks. It is an expression of violence.

There is much quality work to be seen in this exhibition. Additionally, our students should have our support and encouragement.

The exhibition continues through April 25. There is still time to see the show