A New Art Exhibit is Showcased in the Stark Student Center

New Art Exhibit A new art exhibit at Briar Cliff shines a light on the struggles that the artist dealt with as a child, teenager, and young adult.

A new art exhibit is displayed every week or every other week to give the spotlight to former or current chargers and their art.

Sonia Perea Morales, a Briar Cliff alumni, just finished her master's degree in fine arts at the University of South Dakota. In Morales’ artist statement she says, “This work is a conversation about stories we keep to ourselves. Whispered confessions of shame, loneliness, curiosity, and love.”

There is a constant theme that runs through Morales’ work, “mental health has been a common theme in my work, as I learned to love and accept every version of myself,” Morales said in her artist statement. “The lonely child full of shame, the teenager who almost gave into the darkness, and the young adult who has created a space of love for the other two.”

“We are not born to live, rather it is something we find ourselves in,” Morales’ artist statement said. “These paintings show how our connections with our inner child and the natural world can be utilized to establish identity and emotional understanding within the self.” Morales wants her paintings to impact every individual possibly at any age.

Professor Jeff Baldus had the privilege of working with Morales when she went to Briar Cliff, “I love the way she incorporates her Hispanic culture in her paintings,” Baldus said. “It really shows she takes pride in where she’s from.” A lot of bright colors are associated with the Hispanic culture, “some of her paintings are bright and vibrant, which come from her tradition” Baldus said. “But she has also toned them with a lot of blacks, so they have a heavier feel.”

“When walking into the exhibit the first piece I noticed was the painting of the little girl hiding under the flowers,” Baldus said. “Flowers are seen as something to brighten someone’s day or as something happy but in this painting, the flowers have eyes and the flowers are crying, so it kind of brings out all the emotions in one painting.”

All paintings can tell their own story, and Morales's paintings tell the deeper story that most people become too scared to share. The paintings make the viewer think and connect them to their own personal experiences.

Senior Jacob Allen analyzes one of Morales’ paintings.