Previous Art@Hume Exhibitions
2024 - Writing Lives, Writing Futures
Writing Lives, Writing Futures speaks to the ways that writing constructs identities (both the author’s and those addressed) and how writing tutoring co-constructs futures through collaborative, dialogic engagement across cultures, languages, and ideologies. There’s also a double meaning, a double play on words in that “writing lives” can refer to the place that writing has in our everyday experiences as well as to the continued relevance–the aliveness–of writing in the academy and beyond.
At the heart of this exhibit lies a recognition of the enduring power of written stories to transport us to new worlds and perspectives. Together, these artworks invite us to contemplate the profound ways in which writing shapes our lives and futures. They beckon us to embrace the richness of storytelling, to celebrate the diversity of voices that enrich our world, and to envision a future where the written word continues to inspire, empower, and unite us all.
Join us on this journey of exploration and discovery, as we navigate the landscapes of imagination and embark on a quest to write our own futures.
Victoria Lin - Our Metaverse
The term “metaverse” is often considered a novelty concept: a virtual world parallel to the real world– a digital playground. People forget that novels are the originators of immersion. They live by stories. Reading has the uncanny ability to transport us to a different world. The feeling of picking up a book, refusing to put it down, and becoming so attached to characters that you travel with them. A good book connects the reader with perspectives and cultures that one may not usually have access to, and with the advancement of virtual reality as a tool of escapism, they must be mindful of preserving the practice of written stories in a frenzy of seemingly endless digital possibilities.
Shreya Komar - Panoramic Enlightenment
Panoramic Enlightenment explores the concept of writing lives by capturing the essence of individual journeys and collective experiences. Through a panoramic lens, scenes of introspection, exploration, and evolution are depicted. Each brushstroke represents a story, a moment of reflection, and a step towards self-awareness. This piece invites viewers to contemplate their own narratives and how they contribute to shaping the future.
Nicholas Michael Harvey - Angóre mbaréme!
Angóre mbaréme, the title of the painting, translates roughly to "still we learn" in the Eastern Abruzzese language of southern Italy. The painting depicts a stylized classroom, with the teacher and students all exclaiming, "angóre mbaréme!". Eastern Abruzzese, like many of Italy's languages, is not taught in schools and faces endangerment. The painting imagines a future where linguistic diversity is respected in classrooms; the window on the right of the painting shows outer space and the stars, giving the impression that the classroom is actually in some sort of starship in the future. The teacher is at the same height as and is indistinguishable from the students, reflecting the vision that the classroom, both in this specific context and more broadly, can be a space of co-teaching and co-learning between the teacher and students. The painting also embodies the artist's belief that pattern recognition is often a more effective way of language learning than rote memorization, and that learning is a constant process; he is not sure he has ever seen the word "mbaréme", but by knowing the verb "mbarà" and knowing how verbs are conjugated in Abruzzese he was able to deduce "we learn" is "mbaréme".
Elsa Alexandra Bosemark - Words Among Stars
Elsa's artwork highlights the magic of writing and how it can help us explore our minds and the “impossible.” Take, for instance, the central structure—a representation of how words construct the foundation for abstract ideas that make the impossible tangible. The dark backdrop, adorned with gems, parallels the vastness of outer space. While outer space is filled with unknowns, writing can guide us through unfamiliar spaces. The purple eyes symbolize how we gain different perspectives from reading and writing. And finally, the image of a person writing on a glowing star reinforces the theme that writing is a tool that illuminates the unknown and brings to life seemingly impossible realities.
2019 - Curating Campus Through Student Art
Angela He — Exhausted and Anger
"The woman in Exhausted returns home after an exhausting day of pretending to be someone she’s not. At home, she finally takes off her mask, revealing how drained she feels. At times like these, she’s thankful for the invention of makeup—to make her feel pretty, to hide her tiredness, to ward off worried concerns. When someone finally sees the truth, her facade will crack open, like broken glass.
"Flowers are beautiful, aren't they? But the man uses the flowers to hide his real emotions. Beneath the petals lies a shadowy agony. He is angry but doesn’t feel like his anger is valid, so he hides behind his flowers. But not everything lasts. The petals drift off from his flower mask. One day, the flowers will be gone, disappearing petal by petal, and his true self will be revealed."
Madeleine Yip — Self-portrait
"Painting self-portraits are a way for me to disconnect from myself and to meditate myself. At Stanford, painting has been my place of refuge to cut out the noise and just be."
Soraya Fereydooni — Creative Limitations
"Soraya immigrated to the United States from Iran in 2015 and wanted to explore her capacity for art as soon as she reached college. She began her work with black and white film photography because she found it to be a more challenging process than working with digital photography. So began her collection of experiments in the dark room. The poetry written here over a selectively-exposed darkroom print is by the persona poet Sohrab Sepehri, explaining life as minutes ticking by."
Anna Lai — Skytree: Levels
"On a three-day trip to Tokyo, part of an Arts Intensive Course “Painting Engaging Stories,” Anna Lai was struck by the organization of the city: the built environment, from the subway lines to the incorporation of natural contemplative spaces hugged by an encompassing urban landscape. This collage shows some of the things Anna saw, and how the view she was afforded of the organized, bustling, exciting city changed dramatically when seen from different levels"
Tianxing Ma — Light Shower
"A light shower illuminating the soul. A light shower welcoming spring. Nature is magical. And Tianxing portrays the feeling of that realization."
Cathy Yang — People I Met Last Year and Untitled
"Cathy Yang is fascinated by the relationship between the richness of a painted surface and the intricacies of the human figure. Working in a figurative style that emphasizes planes and colors, she explores nuanced emotions and human connection in her paintings. These two square self-portrait paintings are representations from her perspective, but variances in light, color, shape, and angle contextualize the complexities of her personality and offer a textured representation."
2018 — Living Memory: A Cultural Awakening
Art by Students of Color From Across the Diaspora
Harry Cole — Photographs
"Stemming from my ethnic roots in the island of Guam, this work comes out of a personal meditation on the role Western religion, particularly Catholicism, plays in the lives of the colonized natives of the island. I hope these photographs challenge the viewer to contemplate the ethics of conversion without judgment, without simplification of the complex and powerful nature of a religious life."
Kevin Tanaka — Self-portrait
"This piece is a self-portrait. It depicts my naked chest, right arm, and face swallowing pills from a bottle in my room. As a mentally ill person, I am dependent on pills to go about my life at Stanford. For my mental health journey, it was critical that I be plain and honest about what I was experiencing. These moments were difficult and dramatic, but also liberating."
Ashley Faith Haney — Self-Portrait of a Bitch
"My Honors Thesis work and artistic practice is focused on exploring and uncovering the specific and sacred space the word “Bitch” holds in the memories, identity, and languages of young Black womxn and femme. This piece, inspired by a photo taken of my reflection in a mirror and a poem I wrote painted down my back, was created in continued pursuit of this work."
Mahalia Marie Hunt — Baskets
"The baskets you see here, by Alaska Native artists, are from areas close to where I am from. The baskets inspired me to think about my heritage and to write poetry that is transcribed on top of the photos of the baskets. These baskets made me think about myself as a contemporary Alaska Native artist, both with my poetry and with my beading."
Jasmine Reid — Permeable and Whisper
"As a young black girl raised in Boston, I spent years struggling to bricolage together an identity, and it wasn’t until college that I was meaningfully introduced to the African Diaspora. I immediately found solace in the idea of homes forged in spite of displacement, and I contextualize my work within this complex stream of bodies, technologies, cultural practices, and ideas."
Tamu Adumer — Portrait of Father
"This is a piece of my dad. As an Ethiopian immigrant in the United States, his story is one of loss, assimilation, and strength. Stylistically, I was inspired by Chinese-American painter, Hung Liu. Her work deals with cultural memory. A focal point in my piece are the tribal markings near my dad’s temple, for they remain, a permanent expression of cultural memory."
Cathy Yang — Untitled and Faces
Cathy Yang is interested in figurative painting. She loves to express the nuanced emotions she finds in places and people through her artworks. She is also interested in exploring her Chinese American identity through images and words. Outside of painting, Cathy is involved in the Asian American Theater Project.Harry Cole — Photographs
"Stemming from my ethnic roots in the island of Guam, this work comes out of a personal meditation on the role Western religion, particularly Catholicism, plays in the lives of the colonized natives of the island. I hope these photographs challenge the viewer to contemplate the ethics of conversion without judgment, without simplification of the complex and powerful nature of a religious life."
Kevin Tanaka — Self-portrait
"This piece is a self-portrait. It depicts my naked chest, right arm, and face swallowing pills from a bottle in my room. As a mentally ill person, I am dependent on pills to go about my life at Stanford. For my mental health journey, it was critical that I be plain and honest about what I was experiencing. These moments were difficult and dramatic, but also liberating."
Ashley Faith Haney — Self-Portrait of a Bitch
"My Honors Thesis work and artistic practice is focused on exploring and uncovering the specific and sacred space the word “Bitch” holds in the memories, identity, and languages of young Black womxn and femme. This piece, inspired by a photo taken of my reflection in a mirror and a poem I wrote painted down my back, was created in continued pursuit of this work."
Mahalia Marie Hunt — Baskets
"The baskets you see here, by Alaska Native artists, are from areas close to where I am from. The baskets inspired me to think about my heritage and to write poetry that is transcribed on top of the photos of the baskets. These baskets made me think about myself as a contemporary Alaska Native artist, both with my poetry and with my beading."
Jasmine Reid — Permeable and Whisper
"As a young black girl raised in Boston, I spent years struggling to bricolage together an identity, and it wasn’t until college that I was meaningfully introduced to the African Diaspora. I immediately found solace in the idea of homes forged in spite of displacement, and I contextualize my work within this complex stream of bodies, technologies, cultural practices, and ideas."
Tamu Adumer — Portrait of Father
"This is a piece of my dad. As an Ethiopian immigrant in the United States, his story is one of loss, assimilation, and strength. Stylistically, I was inspired by Chinese-American painter, Hung Liu. Her work deals with cultural memory. A focal point in my piece are the tribal markings near my dad’s temple, for they remain, a permanent expression of cultural memory."
Cathy Yang — Untitled and Faces
Cathy Yang is interested in figurative painting. She loves to express the nuanced emotions she finds in places and people through her artworks. She is also interested in exploring her Chinese American identity through images and words. Outside of painting, Cathy is involved in the Asian American Theater Project.
2015 — Impact: The Collision of Expressions
Impact is a collection of photographs, paintings, and drawings that explore portraiture. Drawing on the Hume Center's goals to explore connections between the various communicative arts, these works combine visual and written expression and invite us to take a closer look and feel a closer connection between the artist and ourselves. Combining art with words, this exhibit displays and celebrates the powerful aspects of these two forms of self-expression. From Cameron Baughn's piercing gaze in Chimney Sweep to the whimsical lighting in Siqi Li's Self Portrait, each portrait is full of life and character that highlight the vibrant spectrum of personalities and artistic talent at Stanford.
Curators: Ari Echt-Wilson and Stephanie Wang
Featured artists: Siqi Li, Michelle Bae, Cameron Baughn, Laura Feigen, Lindsey Txakeeyang, and Allegra McComb