Fanshawe Fine Art second-year students have wrapped up their latest exhibit at the TAP Centre for Creativity.
The collection of works was based on fears. Each artist chose a phobia to depict.
Aaron Alfaro & Thalassophobia (Credit: Emily Kim/XFM News)
Professor Gary Spearin (Credit: Emily Kim/XFM News)
It was a great theme, said Gary Spearin, professor of the second-year course.
“With this subject, I think the students will also learn something, as well as experience different emotions and thoughts about their own phobias or other social issues at this time,” said Spearin.
“My phobia is thalassophobia, which is the fear of big bodies and deep bodies of water, which is the opposite of a phobia for me,” said Aaron Alfaro, one of the second-year students. “Because being enveloped by a vast darkness of green or blues underwater is a relaxing sensation.”
Alfaro said he wanted to twist the topic to provoke fear in onlookers.
Kadence Stuart & Cynophobia (Credit: Emily Kim/XFM News)
Another student, Kadence Stuart, chose Cynophobia or the fear of dogs. Their piece was based on the Saint Bernard canine breed.
“Saint Bernard’s are more guardian dogs and more loyal and typically friendly. But some people are afraid of the dog based not only on how aggressive it can be, but also the damage it could possibly do,” said Stuart.
Spearin also said that every painting, including its techniques, is very individual.
“Because each student gets to paint in the way that they want to paint, and also the way they paint would match the kind of subject they were establishing in their phobia,” said Spearin.
Student Gia Hernandez chose Mycophobia or the fear of mushrooms.
Gia Hernandez & Mycophobia (Credit: Emily Kim/XFM News)
“Actually, I work in a restaurant. So, I always open containers where there’s mould on the inside, and that’s been a fear of mine since I was very young,” said Hernandez. “I guess I wanted to face my fears.”
Hernandez used acrylic paint and a piping bag to express different types of mould and spores. She also added a different kind of acrylic medium, like gloss.
In the past two years, this piece has been the one that helped her grow the most.
“I think as an artist, you start off knowing what you like. But knowing how to execute those techniques where it looks good, and making sure that you’re communicating the feeling, is something that I really had to learn,” said Hernandez.
Harley Cheverie focused on the fear of time passing, chronophobia.
It’s the ultimate destination of time, said Cheverie on his artwork “Terminal Lucidity.”
Chronophobia from Harley Cheverie (Credit: Emily Kim/XFM News)
“What that means to me is just kind of being aware of when you’re going to die.”
His artwork depicted a gradient from warm black to cool black made with acrylic paints.
“It’s kind of like that development,” said Cheverie. “To me, that means when you die, your body is getting cold, it’s decomposing and stuff like that.”
Another artist chose to focus on spherophobia. It is the fear of spheres or spherical items.
“I didn’t think I had any phobias of my own. And I wanted something that would either grip you or not. I went with a lot of different spherical shapes so that it will reach out and grab you,” said Kim Crawford.
Kim Crawford & Spherophobia (Credit: Emily Kim/XFM News)
A crescent sculpture could be seen popping off the canvas of Crawford’s canvas. It was made from glue, plaster, and acrylic paint. Meanwhile, styrofoam balls cut in half were used for the other round objects in her piece.
Ebba Mohammed & Trypophobia (Credit: Emily Kim/XFM News)
Ebba Mohammed put sights on Trypophobia, the fear of many clustered holes.
“I want you to feel something very disgusted. I want to feel disgusted when you see my phobia painting,” said Mohammed. “Because it’s a very common phobia for most people.”
Overall, viewers and artists alike had fun with the subject, which is exactly what Spearin had hoped.
“Enjoy our work. Please feel free to interact. We have Fine Art London and Fine Art Fanshawe Instagram. You can take a look at some of our other artwork. And please support artwork in London,” said Crawford.
The 54th annual graduation exhibition for the Fine Arts Advanced Diploma program, called “Kaleidoscope,” will be held from March 24 until April 4.
