Each year the Collins Memorial Library sponsors an award for a graduating Art major. The monetary award is $250 and the honor of displaying their art work in a prominent spot in the library for a term of one year. The winning art work is selected from a preview of the senior show by a Library panel.
Collins Library is pleased to bestow the 2021 Senior Art Award to Patrick Selner.
Comments from Angela Weaver, Fine & Performing Arts Liaison Librarian:
Of his work, Patrick wrote in his artist’s statement:
The human body is immensely beautiful and powerful in
portraying emotion and how we connect with others and
ourselves. I believe that physical connection and the body’s
portrayal of emotion are extremely moving and intimate.
In selecting Patrick, the committee cited the quality of his printmaking as well as his amazing use of color and the beauty and emotional resonance of the finished prints. We are thrilled to honor him with this year’s Senior Art Award and look forward to exhibiting his work in Collins Library in the upcoming year. Congratulations, Patrick.
Library Jurors:
Angela Weaver, Fine & Performing Arts Liaison Librarian
Jamie Spaine, Administrative and Special Projects Coordinator
Hilary Robbeloth, Systems and Discovery Librarian
Nick Triggs, Public Services Specialist
ARTIST STATEMENT: (View full exhibit)
Patrick Selner
Creating images of the human form and the language of the body allows me to create a story for the viewer to observe. My prints focus on the human body and how it interacts with others. The human body is immensely beautiful and powerful in portraying emotion and how we connect with others and ourselves. I believe that physical connection and the body’s portrayal of emotion are extremely moving and intimate. I hope that the figures are brought to life and encourage pause and contemplation on their significance and purpose.
Printmaking, one of the more precise and structured forms of art-making, is a process that I find beautiful. I love being able to watch my creation emerge until the final image is revealed. Each color and layer adds deeper meaning, building the image layer by layer. With each, the form evolves and comes into view through these color blocks.
Color combinations are something I consider carefully. With different color choices and combinations, an image can completely change. Color creates the mood of the piece and can change the viewers’ perception of an image. I value clean hard edges and larger blocks of color that interact with each other to create forms. I enjoy vivid, bright, warm, and cool tones in my prints and how these types of colors interact with one another. Highlights and shadows are created using different colors and hues to help place the figures in the space. My prints include squares at the base to emphasize the color choices and to show the progression of the layers and colors throughout the print. These also help in showing the relationships between the colors, and how each contributes differently to the figures in combination.