Student art show takes center stage at Cougar Village

Cougar Village hosted a student art show Sunday evening, obtaining the works of UH’s own prospective artists

Kentra Gilbert, Matt Manlao, David Dawkins, Mike Smith and Cammy Bui.

Unfortunately, some of the artists were unable to be in attendance but the profound attributes emanated in their work expressed their artistic establishments.

Luckily, I had a chance to speak with a few of the performers. Painter David Dawkins is a UH sophomore whose collection entailed a number of African-American women who possessed a peculiar yet captivating style of beauty. I was curious to discover the foundation of his inspiration, and Dawkins simply said, “My inspiration is what I like to call Christian world views. I enter the culture and objectively examine the aspects of ethnicity.”

The passion and technique radiated in his work propagated my assumption that he had cultivated his work for several years, but to my surprise it wasn’t until he decided to switch majors from biomedical to studio art painting that he considered himself an aspiring artist. One of his works that fascinated many of his colleagues is the picture of what appeared to be an indigenous woman in green; he delivered a synopsis of the portrait, saying, “Simply put, it is a portrait of complimentary colors and muted tones. It’s part of a series in which I explored what the significance of what it means to be black or ethnic.”

Kendra Gilbert, a UH senior, provides most of her artwork via YouTube and Facebook but graced the gallery with her profound artistry, entrancing her audience’s attention. Most of her muse elicits from pure entertainment, with an emphasis on the hip-hop genre. During our short discussion she accredited the influence that hip-hop contributed to her work. The piece that she exhibits the most admiration for was the portrait of the popular rap group, “Outkast,” using a sharpie, spray paint, and acrylic paint to articulate the masterpiece. This appeared to be the crowd’s favorite.

Overall, the show evoked an appreciation for the essence of art and the illustrators who projected a great passion for philosophical creativity. The remarkable art work left an admirable impression on the viewers, initiating anticipation for more shows displaying this type of originality.