After a hard week of classes, Colgate students always appreciate a good sunny and relaxing Saturday. For three students, this Saturday was particularly special as the Hamilton Center for the Arts put their unique art work on display. Families, friends, students and Hamilton locals gathered at the center to see the remarkable work of sophomore Nitika Sachdev and juniors Kristi Boazman and Jessica Hwang. The various tools and techniques utilized combined with the passionate feelings that these artists expressed, provided for an extraordinary art exhibition.

So what was the inspiration behind these three artists’ work? Sophomore Nitika Sachdev explores “hierarchal systems of domination and power, particularly in relation to the value given to people of South Asian/Indian identity.” This past semester, Sachdev participated in an independent study with Professor Lynette Stephenson, in which she worked to produce three paintings (each containing two panels). She conveys her beliefs through oil painting, a process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil.

 “I paint faces as it is key to the ways in which we see ourselves and the ways in which we are seen,” Sachdev said. “I juxtapose seemingly disparate images by using two separate panels to form one whole painting, to urge the viewer to become awakened to the connections that exist.”

Similarly, junior Kristi Boazman was able to take a feeling and experience and convey it through art. In a six-photograph series, Boazman studies light and in particular, the colors of the sky and how they change throughout the day. 

“Over the course of several trips to the beach on Tybee Island, I became fascinated with the light that was present,” Boazman said. “I studied the lighting all throughout the day, from dawn to post sundown. I saw vivid sunrises, cloudy mornings, bright afternoons, soft sunsets and dark nights.” 

Boazman soon recognized the value and beauty in the light and color transformations. 

“These changing colors affected the mood of the scene and I realized I had the power to use the effects to my advantage,” Boazman said. “Although I was photographing the same place, I found that the light greatly altered the feeling of each photograph.” 

In order to limit the variability and to draw conclusions, Boazman studied the same location. The six photographs were arranged chronologically, from sunrise to sunset, in order to highlight the development of light throughout the day and depict the emotions that Boazman felt.

Junior Jessica Hwang was the third and final student whose artwork was elegantly displayed. Two of the three paintings – her self-portrait as well as a painting of Hamilton streets – are both works from her painting class last semester. The final painting titled, “Beat Order,” is part of a series Hwang works on during her independent study. As a whole, the three paintings encompass a collection of abstract paintings based on the idea of post split second landscapes.

“These would be the everyday stuff you easily miss but sometimes catch and only see in passing,” Hwang said.

Hwang describes the challenge that comes when trying to capture a snapshot of a moment. 

“Time passes and the thing about the mood of these split second scenes, though, is that the split second is swallowed up by the thoughts it intruded or the thoughts it leads you to without getting a second to belong to or speak for itself,” Hwang said.

 Hwang reveals the hours that she spent staring at Beat Order before it was finished. Overall, each painting has a unified goal. Each one attempts to capture a split second thought as perfectly as it can. 

“They’re actually really personal works when it comes down to it but they still have to look good,” Hwang said. 

All in all, the art exhibition displayed Colgate’s strong art program and the unique and talented individuals that encompass Colgate’s student body. All three students were able to communicate their views in a noteworthy way.