On March 12, I attended the opening of the post-baccalaureate art exhibition in Dreitzer Gallery. This exhibition features four incredible artists. I was lucky enough to chat with them about their work to gain some inspiration and insight on their process and to ask them each about my favorite piece of theirs. 

The first artist I spoke to was Ally Sukay ’25. Sukay is a painter whose large-scale oil paintings explore themes of friendship, community and the joys of daily life in vivid color. Sukay often paints subjects from life and aims to express her world as she experiences it, through the use of hyper-saturated colors and thick layers of painterly, expressive strokes. Sukay attended Brandeis for her undergraduate degree, and originally aimed to become a doctor before finding an “obsession” for painting. Her fifth year and the work that has come out of it is a reflection of her time spent at the University and the chosen family that formed over the years. My favorite piece of Sukay’s from this exhibition is “Mishpacha,” a large-scale oil on paper painting of three friends enjoying a meal together. This work has a great sense of comfort and calm, the figures look peaceful as they sit in a teal kitchen at a table scattered with cups, salad bowls and a tea set. The detail and color in this piece is exquisite. The beautifully rendered tablecloth is decorated with flowers and birds. Black hair is expressed with strokes of blue and red, skin is at once green and pink. “Mishpacha” is a Hebrew word that means family, a fitting description for a piece that highlights the closeness that is felt when friendships become familial. The moment captured here feels natural and welcoming, as the viewer takes on the spot of the fourth attendant of the meal, becoming a part of the “Mishpacha.”

The next artist I spoke to was Atticus Kangas. Kangas is a multimedia artist who works in both acrylic painting and wooden sculpture, often mixing the two crafts. Kangas grew up in a household of art historians, surrounded by the Ancient Greek architecture of columns and temples. This grew into a fascination with the “built world” leading to an exploration of structure and order as a means of escape from the clutter and chaos of daily life. Kangas aims to create an emotional release for his viewers through his colorful, organized structures that blur the lines between sculpture and painting. My favorite piece at the exhibition by Kangas was a painting on canvas titled “Kouros.” This piece combines the color block language of modernism with a black silhouette reminiscent of Ancient Greek paintings, as a metaphor for how the artist’s work fits in the worlds of painting and sculpture. Kangas’ work combines the new and the old of art to create a unique experience for the viewer, a bright and peaceful experience that can be felt whether or not you have a background in art history. To me, this painting also represents the monotony of daily life. The silhouette appears to be alone in the window of a large structure, perhaps she is working late in the office or taking a night train home. The bright blue, orange, red and pink suggest that this experience is not a lonely one, but perhaps a normal and even positive part of life within schedule and structure. The figure is simply taking in and appreciating a moment of order among the chaos of everyday life.

 Next, I spoke with Zichun Zhao. Zhao is a multimedia painter whose work is often painted on self constructed fabric structures. Like Kangas, Zhao experiments with breaking out of the rectangular canvas boundaries of traditional painting. Zhao’s work takes inspiration from daily life, but unlike Sukay, her work is expressed through the absence of figures and bright colors. Negative space, empty chairs and an unmade bed are all elements of Zhao’s work that express her internal contemplation through the tasks of everyday life. The suggestion of a human presence also allows the audience to put themselves into the setting Zhao creates. Zhao also mentioned the pressure that comes when portraying an Asian female figure, a discourse she is not scared but tired of. My favorite piece of hers was “On The Floor Beneath The Stairs,” an acrylic on fabric painting of the view Zhao experienced while lying on the floor during dance class. Exhausted and needing a break, Zhao laid down and stared upwards, hearing – and more so feeling – the dancers around her. This experience combined themes of community and alienation all at once, and is a place Zhao wanted to bring to an audience. The industrial materials and transparent fabric are integral to this piece. It is designed to be able to be put over a window, allowing it to transform a space and be enhanced through the changing light and weather. Zhou’s pieces are also windows into private moments of her daily life. As a viewer, I could relate to these moments of contemplation, transformation and relaxation during my day to day routine. Zhou’s work recreates these private moments for her audience, turning them into comforting spaces for people to gather and be alone together. 

The last artist I spoke to was Nellie Congdon ’24. Congdon is an acrylic painter whose larger-than-life paintings of the feminine figure deliberately contort the body into unique positions that convey as much emotion as her subjects’ facial expressions. Congdon has been painting since she was a kid and has always had an interest in color and figure painting. Congdon’s figures are often alone, stretched to fit into the space of the canvas. They are also often dressed in swimsuits, a metaphor for what we choose to conceal versus what we choose to express about our bodies, connecting one’s sense of self to their self awareness. My favorite of Congdon’s pieces is titled “Sitting With People.” This work features four feminine figures sitting together in a circular arrangement, rendered in shades of yellow, purple, pink and orange. The figures take up the entire page, and while their bodies are contorted like much of Congdon’s other work, they are also at ease. They are together and clearly in community; however, each person also seems to be thinking to themselves rather than in conversation with each other. To me, this piece is about silence and contemplation within a group setting, the beauty of simply existing with your loved ones, unconcerned with how you look or are being perceived.

The post-baccalaureate exhibition is on display until Apr. 6 and I encourage everyone to go see the pieces I have mentioned and the others currently on display in the Dreitzer Gallery in the Spingold Theatre!