Drew M. Hoidal ’29
Arts & Entertainment Editor
The Austin Arts Center (AAC) provides Trinity students with numerous opportunities to experience and engage with artists, offering a variety of exhibitions, performances, and events through the school year. On Thursday, Sept. 24, the Fellows- Work by Select Alumni of the Studio Postbaccalaureate Fellowship Program was put on display in the Widener Gallery located on the first floor of Austin Arts Center. The exhibition invites Trinity students and faculty to observe the works created by artists connected to the Trinity community. On Oct. 1st, a reception was held in the main lobby of AAC where the artists got to discuss their works and answer the questions of prospective student artists. The lobby was filled with melodious background tunes and snacks and drinks were included.The Gallery will continue to display the works of these artists until Oct. 30, offering a diverse collection of pieces that showcase many artistic approaches and perspectives, ranging from sculptures to projections.
Fellows’ exhibit combines the works of three different Trinity college Studio Arts Alumni, featuring art by Weixi Zhang, Sydney Smith and Ciara Rubi. Rubi holds a long history with art work, her work being shown at Yale school of Art, The study Hotel, as well as Maysas room. Rubi is a guest artist in residence at Southwestern Oregon Community College. Her work featured in the gallery is derived from polaroid autoportraits, and it’s inspired by concealment and discovery, where she embodies both the elusive hider and seeker, with the camera serving as the opposing force. Her work uses tactics of cutting, peeling, layering, and scratching to make the pieces look obscured. The gallery also holds work from Sydney Smith, who holds an undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University. Her work showcased at Ball and Socket Arts and was also featured at Ely Center of Contemporary Art. Smith’s art presented in the Widener Gallery is created through carving wood into sculpture, recognizing that wood and/or stone resembles bodies that hold stories. Smith transforms these organic elements to question traditional structures, pushing their physical properties and symbolic meanings to their limits. Lastly, Weixi Zhang’s work is featured in the Gallery. Zhang, born in China, holds a BA in Computer Science and Studio Arts from Trinity College. Zhang’s works across installation, performance and image making, intervening in areas where she remains perpetually unsettled. Her research explores disapproval and hydrological memory. She creates situations that confront these forces, drawing on contingency, sound, and data.
Together, the artists demonstrate the range of approaches that can emerge from different techniques and materials, highlighting distinct perspectives and how creative processes shape work. Upon entering the gallery, visitors are met with a small table that displays directories for the art exhibit. The information in these packets provides the titles of pieces featured in the gallery and information about the artists. When visitors walk into the gallery, Weixi Zhang’s “Washed Ashore, 2024” is projected onto one of the white walls. The projector displays a 3 channel video portrayal of different ocean schemes. The projection is beautiful and ambient, capturing the natural essence of a slow moving landscape. Sydney Smith’s “Letter to the Editors, 2025” is another expressive visionary work that sits in the exhibit. The Sculpture is composed of ambrosia maple, combining natural materials with an unconventional design.
The Fellows exhibit showcased in the Widener Gallery presents a variety of works, each created through different approaches to materials, composition and visual expression. At the front of the gallery Weixi Zhang’s Washed Ashore illuminates the space with projected images that blur the line between stillness and motion. Zhangs’ Survival Swimming Manual is also displayed, featuring illustrations and notes that blend sketches of nature with organized information. Zhang even left copies of the piece at the reception, for students to take home, extending her work beyond the gallery. Other pieces suggest movement through connected shapes linked by thin lines or intertwined materials. Sydney Smith’s DNR, for example, connects hemlock bark, creating a relationship between natural material and structure of the work. Ciara Rubi’s “Diary Writing no.1” combines text and drawing, beginning with the line “I once spoke to my friend Margeret of my desire to convert to Bootyism someday;..” Alongside the text are two hand-like drawings, creating the impression of a personal record or diary entry. The pairing of text and drawing makes it feel as though the visual poses as a record. Overall, the exhibit is intriguing and challenges observers to think about nature, movement, and expression. The gallery encourages viewers to stop and think about the meaning each piece holds.