The student capstone exhibition “We Are Who We Are” is on display at the A.D. Gallery at UNC Pembroke.

The spring show features six undergraduate art students: Shelley Burton, Arturo Carmona, Amber Cranford, Juwan Lockhart, Sarah Nelson and Ian Schmude. The exhibit will be on display through May 12.

"We are an eclectic group of artists with no hesitations, giving everyone a glimpse into our minds," Nelson said.

Burton’s series consists of three individual ceramic works. One is constructed with hand-painted ceramic tile, and the other two use different-sized slip-cast ceramic skulls. She draws inspiration from a variety of perspectives relating to living life and dealing with death.

Reflecting on her pieces, Cranford stated, “For my senior exhibition, I wanted to incorporate my Irish Heritage and childhood experience. When I was younger, my sister and I would carve pumpkins for Halloween. Jack-o-lanterns originally came from the Irish myth of Stingy Jack. 

“Because of this myth, people would carve lanterns from turnips and other gourds. Today, people use pumpkins. In this show, I chose to create a representational painting of Stingy Jack and used my childhood experience of pumpkin carving to hand-build and carve Jack-o-Lanterns out of clay.”

Nelson’s series is titled “Secrets; you tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.” Her mixed media pieces have you trying to discover the secret. She states, “We all have a secret, some smaller than others. Sometimes those secrets eat away at you till it is set free.” 

Schmude, a digital and drawing artist, said his theme is character art involving cyborgs and construction and deconstruction of identity. His work features a slideshow, a video, and ink drawings.

The A.D. Gallery is located on the first floor of Locklear Hall. It is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. This exhibition is free and open to the public. For more information, contact A.D. Gallery Director Joseph Begnaud at 910.521.6405 or email joseph.begnaud@uncp.edu.