ATLANTA — The Georgia State University Honors College recently hosted its first-ever Honors Art Exhibit, a vibrant celebration of student creativity that showcased a range of artwork exploring themes and perspectives pertinent to students, such as forgotten spaces, identity and love.
Coordinated by Kevin Hsieh, faculty associate for the Honors Experience in the Arts (HExA), the exhibit brought together Honors student artists from different academic backgrounds and majors, using all kinds of mediums — from painting and photography to mixed media and others.
The pieces tell stories — all of which are personal, thought-provoking and innovative. The exhibit was a demonstration that art and intellect go together, proving that creativity has a place in every field of study.
So what did the audience think? Honors College art student Lily Daniel shared the emotions artists face and work that goes into putting together a piece. "I was really impressed by all of the artists," Daniel said. "Especially because showing artwork off is always so nerve wracking. You don't know what people are going to think, and then there's writing your artist statement. It's a hard thing to explain your piece. Everybody did such a good job."
Student Tyler Baker reflected on the engaging and non-traditional nature of the show. "When you think of an art show, you just think of paintings on a wall, so I was very surprised when I came here. It's more interactive."
As the first of its kind, the show reminds viewers that art isn’t just something to admire —it’s something to engage with and discuss. And regardless of major, art can be used to process emotions and express ideas. This show demonstrates what the Honors College has always known: that Honors students are more than scholars — they’re artists, creators, thinkers and enthusiasts.
Scroll through the names and descriptions below to see each piece and learn more about what inspired each artist:
Title of Work: Perseverance and Perspective
Artist Statement: A snowy, desolate forest overlooked by death, this painting is part of a series combining oil painting and storytelling. In the project this piece was a part of, I try to explore a warping of perception in a fantastical setting in the hopes of creating a new reality, one in which giant flora and fauna exist, and a continuous narrative is weaved into each painting. Alongside the paintings included in this project, animations were created to provide movement and more context to the still image. These animations were projected onto the paintings during this project’s first exhibition in April 2024 titled "Sonder." Death hangs from the trees connected by hungry vines providing nutrients to the tall, dark trees.
The narrow canvas used for this composition helps bring a sense of claustrophobia and intensifies the skewed perspective of the composition. This painting was made using a monochromatic color palette to emphasize death through lack of many colors. The decision to have the light come from behind the hanging skull is to give an even more dramatic looming feeling of death over the snowy ground of the forest. This painting stands out among the rest in this series as a result of its lack of color and darker themes.
As an artist I strive to create new worlds and perceptions for the general audience to escape into. With my primary focus being storytelling and concept art in my personal practice, this art piece was a great opportunity to segue those ideas in a traditional medium such as oil painting.
Title of Work: Forgotten Spaces
Artist Statement: Collecting from over 500 pictures from the last three years, this work aims to show forgotten or “lost” spaces. Giving these spaces new light, it begs the question, should these spaces have been abandoned to give way to the new? Could they be given a new life if someone were to use it? Frozen in time, how can they inspire our spaces?
I believe a successful space or organization requires good design. In today’s world, the new always gets flaunted and pushed for. The new isn’t always better: Through these exploration of these spaces, I have noticed well thought out design elements. Are these lost spaces remnants of a past where architectural ideas played with function, while the new only looks for the new “cool gadgets?” Or are they just places where old, failed ideas can be left discarded? There isn’t necessarily an answer, and I invite you to make your own opinion.
I find great satisfaction in creating beauty from what others might see as trash or useless junk that needs to be removed. All materials (except photographs and 3D prints) were recycled from abandoned materials or are re-used hardware. In my work, I’ve also been an advocate of using open standards and open software. In my free time, I spend time researching how software can help us in the modern world and contributing to open-source projects. All image editing or 3D modeling was created using free and open-source software.
Title of Work: Black Footed Ferret
Artist Statement: My goal has always been to give voice to animals through my art. Through symbols and color, I believe my art can be conveyed through this piece. My art explores synthesis through printmaking, symbols, animals and color. This piece investigates how I analyzed the emotions abstracted through animal abuse. Each piece I create is a step in my exploration of animal abuse.
The 50,350 paw prints were imprinted onto the canvas using printmaking to represent the previous black-footed ferret population. Each red paw print represents about 10 ferrets. The black paw prints represent the population left of the black-footed ferret. I chose red to represent the scar that the loss of the ferret impacted and black to represent the creature itself since it’s in the name, ‘Black Footed Ferret.' I hang the paper representing the black-footed ferret-like pelts left to dry since the main cause of the black-footed ferrets near extinction was the fur trade during the colonization period of America. I used printmaking to show the traces left behind, like how a foot leaves its imprint on the ground. I stamped each paw print like a ferret running across the canvas to represent the impact of the loss of this magnificent creature. The making of this piece was assisted with 2,000 paw prints being stamped by volunteers.
Title of Work: Lost in Translation
Artist Statement: As a Vietnamese American, there’s that duality between my Vietnamese and American identities. At home, I speak Vietnamese and everywhere else, I speak English. I love my different identities as their intersectionality brings a unique culture that I can share and embrace with fellow Vietnamese Americans. In many settings, I stand out amongst the crowd. My previous fear of attention was transformed into my love of being in the spotlight. For the most part, I find joy and pride in my Vietnamese American identity. Although, there are obstacles within my identities.
As I grow older, I increasingly recognize the importance of preserving my Vietnamese culture. Essentially, I fear losing my bilingualism and my ability to communicate with my family. As my life continues I sometimes struggle to navigate across our language barrier. As a result, I began to commit to learning my native tongue a lot more. My language learning journey teaches me patience and discipline — neither skills I’m great at, but I’m eager to improve them. I upgraded from nothing to, at most, intermediate level for reading and writing and I’m, at best, advanced at speaking. I’m excited about what the future holds for me when, hopefully, I’m fluent in all sectors. I will persevere and fulfill my language goals — even when I sometimes get Lost in Translation.
Title of Work: Heart and Soul
Artist Statement: This piece is an ode to the love I have for my boyfriend. Within this multimedia piece I experimented with different themes of love, such as the idea of burning for the one you love, the world is colorful because of you, and similar such themes. I feel this piece demonstrates the emotions I feel and hopefully many others feel for their partners. Heart and Soul is a charcoal drawing with soft pastel for an emphasis on love. I feel I captured an expressive quality that I have in real life, though my goal was not to have us (me and my boyfriend) as the subject, but as messengers for a larger meaning.
The message portrayed in Heart and Soul is universal, but also captures a snapshot of my personal experience. This is my first time drawing people with charcoal, so I took extra care within the face and hands. I did not spend much time on my shirt because it is not the focal point of the piece. I created a circle composition with the arms circling around the warm center, bringing viewers' eyes around the piece in a full circle. I feel that this shows a harmony and balance in the piece, that also demonstrates the harmony and balance that love has itself.
Title of Work: Alexandria and Why You’re Great (Women)
Artist Statement: This graphic marks the conclusion of a series of photos I initially took for my friend’s blog, as shown in the URL on the graphic. However, it wasn’t the end I had originally planned for the project — it’s more of a fun piece that reflects my aesthetic and mood at the time. It highlights a few traits that make girls and women so powerful. The two photos next to the graphic show my favorite shot from that day and the original image I edited to create the graphic (featuring my friend Julia).
Taken in summer 2024 in my hometown of Jacksonville, Fla., I had more time to explore hobbies that I don’t usually get to focus on during the school year. We snapped various photos using personal props to spice up the setting. Though I’m not an expert with a camera, it’s enjoyable to experiment with friends and capture moments. I especially love the editing process, where I can adjust everything on my laptop. For the graphic’s style, I drew inspiration from the “Frutiger” trend, which evokes the stock imagery popular in the mid-2000s. I created the graphic using a free website called Pixlr, where I spent hours teaching myself how to use the program. I have a new respect for graphic designers who do this professionally.
Title of Work: I Adore You
Artist Statement: I made this piece to show appreciation of romantic love and the emotions that come with it despite how cheesy romance can seem. I decided to show this through the simple hand gesture of a ring being gifted. I intentionally chose this simple act because it can hold many complex emotions. In contrast, I painted the background to be more complicated and show more of the emotions through flowers.
The flowers surround the hands similar to how emotions surround the ring exchange. A flower grows out of the rightmost hand to show the flowers were created out of their love for each other. Some of the flowers include roses, daisies, dahlias, peonies, camellias and a lily of the valley. I chose these flowers for what they are known to represent — roses and dahlias for love, daisies for purity, camellias for devotion, peonies for prosperity and lily of the valley for beauty. These concepts are what make up romance to me, a love that is loyal and long lasting. I also made the painting with red toned colors because I wanted the painting to have a wistful and warm feeling.
This work was also influenced by post-impressionist artists like Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat. I made the painting in a pointillist style to make the work as vibrant and overwhelming as possible. Lastly, I titled the work “I Adore You” because it is what gifting an engagement ring means to me, and the word "adore" is more specific than love, meaning devotion or to treasure. This painting reminds us to embrace love.
The Honors College at Georgia State University is a destination for high-achieving students who embody curiosity, take pride in their work and dream about how they can make an impact through their studies and careers. Its mission is to serve students in a welcoming space by engaging students’ curiosity, empowering them to achieve their highest potential and inspiring them to find their place in the world. Its students form life-long friendships, participate in community service, perform research, excel academically, explore their interests and chart their career paths.