CREDIT: STEPHANIE LAI
Sean Patterson puts finishing touches on a painting he will be showing at the grad art show.

The graduating class of the Fine Arts program here at Fanshawe will present pieces at the annual art show called Overloaded from April 9 to 19.

Program co-ordinator and instructor Tony McAulay said while there is no theme to the show, viewers can expect to see unique and “individualistic” pieces.

“I hope that [viewers] would think it's incredibly well-done work. And most of it is,” he said. “You can see from the 28 of them that they're all very individualistic, so it represents a very diverse range or approach to making art.”

“We've got everything from paintings to photography, to film, to sculpture, to print making, to performance.”

Anything and everything in between.

Though students weren't given assignments or guidelines, students found one medium and stuck to it.

Vicky Gallagher chose painting.

“I primarily do abstract but right now I'm working on this piece, which is the collage of part of my [inspiration] wall through a fisheye lens so it's slightly distorted,” she explained. “Before, I was just doing completely abstract ... I just wanted to paint something more realistic.”

She said her pieces are in tune with what the show is about.

“[It's] a visual overload and I think my piece fits that.”

Sean Patterson is also focusing on painting — though this time around he decided to paint more landscapes.

“I'm working into getting further away from the subject and having more of a landscape feel than a portrait,” he said.

This year has helped Patterson find his strengths, he said.

“When you're better at painting something, you like painting it more,” Patterson said. “That's what I'm trying to figure out now because this is something I've never tried to paint before this year. Now I'm kind of testing it out.”

Patterson said people should be excited to see the class' work.

“They can expect something different from each one of us,” he said. “It's just our own minds gone off to do whatever we want.”

“This is the end of our three-year journey here at Fanshawe and this is our conclusion of what we think should be our best work,” Patterson said of why people should come. “You're going to see the best of 28 people and what they think they can do after three years. It's going to be something to see.”

What's next for these graduates?

“We encourage them to go on and get a degree at a university,” said McCaulay. “We encourage them to stay as much as possible in art because if you've got your art, if you've got your own work, you've got a lot.”

Both Gallagher and Patterson hope to continue their studies at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NASCAD) University in Halifax.

The class' works of art will be on display from April 9 to 19 at The Arts Project on 203 Dundas St.