Senior Art Majors

Claire Begalla ’24
Unbound
On View: December 8 – 13, 2023
Reception: Friday, December 8, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Encompassing photography, printmaking, and animation, Claire Begalla’s works visually explore the manipulation of the human figure and its dynamic relationship with the surrounding landscape. Born in DeLand Florida, they will receive their Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and Digital Screen Media Studies from Davidson College. Claire also studied Darkroom Photography and Ethnographic Photography at Temple University in Rome, Italy. Claire manages the photography of the Van Every/ Smith Galleries art collection and works as an Arts Fellow for Davidson Arts and Creative Engagement. They also worked as a Curatorial Intern for the Asheville Art Museum.

View Claire’s artist talk & virtual tour here

Mary Nell Todd ’24
hue
On View: March 13 – 17, 2024
Reception: Wednesday, March 13, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Artist Statement:
I began with the concept of a spectrum of colors. This spectrum serves as the foundational framework for organizing my thoughts, ideas, and collections. I embrace a variety of mediums, including watercolor, oil, water-soluble crayons, and ink. My oil collection explores textural spaces across a variety of compositions within a singular color. My watercolor and ink collection invites viewers to enter spaces of repeated images. Between the two collections, I am navigating space and composition one hue at a time.

Artist Biography:
Mary Nell Todd is working to complete her final year of Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art at Davidson College. She has been developing an artistic practice in painting with India Ink, watercolor, and oil paint. She spent her past summer working at the Sally Jones Pottery Studio in Montreat, North Carolina, where she supported a rotating series of artists in residence. When Mary Nell is not in the studio she enjoys spending time in nature hiking, biking, swimming, and boating. She enjoys working hard and prides herself in being transparent about the art process as a way to help those around her get in touch with nature and art.

View Mary Nell’s artist talk & virtual tour here

Amelia Shields ’24
In Aeternum 
On View: March 20 – 24, 2024
Reception: Friday, March 22, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

Artist Statement:
Rooted in a profound reverence for the enigmatic, my painting practice blends intuition and intentionality, weaving influences from the natural world and speculative fiction. Each composition emerges from my own matrix of sketches derived from life experiences, as well as from natural and constructed patterns that hover on the brink of recognizability. The deliberate ambiguity invites viewers to grapple with the unknown and to sit in discomfort.

The struggle to world build is central, infusing every piece with a vibrant tension born from diverse influences. The result is a realm characterized by perpetual transformation and transition. The work encourages contemplation and engagement with the mysterious imagery that is never defined as a specific object, place, or process.

Artist Biography:
Amelia Shields lives and works in Davidson, North Carolina. She has exhibited in group shows, most notably in Davidson College Annual Student Art Exhibition, where she was honored with the Visitor’s Choice Award and the Best Sculpture Award. Her process includes using experimental and intentional painting techniques to create intriguing alternate dimensions. The fantasy worlds she depicts take inspiration from science fiction novels, nature experienced through travel, and mythological references.

View Amelia’s artist talk & virtual tour here.

Alana Wilson ’24
Pilina
On View: March 26 – 28, April 1 – 2, 2024
Reception: Thursday, March 28, 4:30 -5:30 p.m.

Artist Statement:
I create sculptures from collecting found materials at an intimate handheld scale. They are often meticulously formulated in strands with lei-making techniques. I shifted my practice away from dense forms to allow natural materials to take center stage. My sculptures mirror traditions from my Hawaiian culture and upbringing; lei (garlands) are given for many occasions including celebrations and memorials. The link between delicate and often ephemeral materials demonstrate an interconnectedness of humans and nature and our inevitable mortality. The strands acknowledge a timeline: preserving a moment and encouraging close speculation. My sculptures offer a moment of scrutiny into overlooked materials.

Artist Biography:
Alana Wilson grew up in Honolulu Hawai’i and immersed herself in her natural environments and Hawaiian traditional lei making. She has learned to make many traditional lei including lei wili (twisting and wrapping), feather lei, lei lā’ī and lei haku (braiding) style lei po’o (garland for the head) from her mom and knowledgeable kumu from her community. Her love of the outdoors is expressed through her outdoor education leader experience from high school. She still leads camping and hiking trips, now as a trained Davidson Outdoors leader for college students and became an advanced open water scuba diver. She has been invited to show her work annually at the Davidson College Student Art Exhibition since 2021 and received the juror’s award for “Best Sculpture in Show” in 2023. She is currently working on ephemeral sculptures for her Senior Art Exhibition that will be displayed at the end of March 2024.

View Alana’s artist talk & virtual tour here.

Claire Tatum ’24
Catharsis
On View: April 5 – 9, 2024
Reception: Friday, April 5, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

Artist Biography:
Claire Tatum lives and works in Davidson, NC where she is pursuing double majors in Studio Art and Communication Studies from Davidson College. She has shown in group exhibitions, most notably in Davidson College’s Annual Student Art Exhibition where she was honored with the Juror’s Award for Drawing. Her process involves varied mixed media approaches, of which she currently focuses on reductive Linocut printmaking, ceramics, and photography. Outside of the studio, she enjoys working with WildCrafts art club, rescuing animals, and exploring the mountains.

View Claire’s artist talk & virtual tour here.

Sarah Green ’24
I don’t want to be queer I want to be pretty
On View: April 12 – 16, 2024
Reception: April 12, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Artist Biogarphy:
Sarah Green is a double major in Biology and Studio Art on the Pre-Med track from Anniston, Alabama. She is a Belk Scholar and the recipient of the Douglas Houchens Studio Art Award. In Fall 2022 she studied art history in Vienna, Austria. Green was a guest services volunteer intern in the Emergency Department at Charlotte Presbyterian Hospital. She also worked at Pediatric Advanced Therapy, a physical and behavioral therapy office for children. She has most recently worked as the graphic design and social media intern for The Pauline Tea Bar Apothecary.

View Sarah’s artist talk & virtual tour here.

Julia Matthiesen ’24
Symbiosis
On View: April 19 – 24, 2024

Artist Statement:
My art deliberately uses the interplay between the gritty, dynamic energy of graffiti-inspired text and the more formalist elements of figures and animals. This intentional clash prompts contemplation on gender, relationships, nature, and modernity. My works are large-scale mixed media paintings created with acrylic and oil paints, oil pastels, and Posca pens. Within them, I invite viewers to explore the subjective meanings embedded within varying levels of text legibility and their accompanying subjects. Each piece serves as a space for dialogue and reflection, encouraging viewers to engage with the complexities of the contemporary human experience as it relates to the natural world.

Artist Biography:
Julia Matthiesen was born in New York, and is receiving a BA of Studio Art with a minor in Data Science. She is the inaugural recipient of the Malú Alvarez Visual Arts Scholarship. In 2022, she studied abroad in Florence, Italy and was highly influenced by both the Classical Italian Renaissance Art she saw there and the graffiti and street art she saw abroad in Europe and at home in New York City. At Davidson College, she is involved in Libertas Arts and Literary Student Magazine as a Design Editor and volunteers at Planned Parenthoods in the Charlotte area with the PPGA club. Her work has been in exhibitions in New York and North Carolina, including at Concordia College of New York, and most recently at the Annual Student Art Exhibition at Davidson College. She has worked in NYC as a Gallery Assistant, Gallery Manager, and is currently Assistant Curator in a major exhibition project with 511 Gallery in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

View Julia’s artist talk and virtual tour here.

Joe Claire ’24
Artefacts in Pearls
On View: April 26 – May 1, 2024
Reception: April 26, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Artist Biography:
Joe Claire was born in Washington, D.C. in 2002. He began experimenting with digital art and photography in high school and now focuses on creating semi-representational photographs and prints focused on entropy and degradation of images from the moment of their inception. He is also passionate about the visual art accompanying the music world and is co-president of Davidson’s student radio. He is a senior studio art major and digital studies minor. He received Davidson’s SPIKE! Grant in 2021 to print a book of documentary photographs taken at his grandparents’ historic plant nursery and is a McAllen scholarship recipient. After college, he plans to pursue an MFA and continue experimenting with image degradation in his art.

View Joe Claire’s virtual tour here.