Reporter’s Notebook: TCC students participate and showcase work in the annual art exhibition

Part Three: Ceramic and jewelry art students display good craftsmanship

Editor’s Note: The TCC (Tulsa Community College) Student Art Exhibition 2023 review will be a four-part series. Several program entries will be profiled. This is the third review of the series.

TCC Student Art Exhibition 2023 is a journey into the world of art, such as sculptures, drawings, paintings, jewelry, and ceramics. The exhibit was unveiled to a crowd of art admirers at the TCC Student Commons area of the Metro Campus on April 21.

The public is invited to visit the TCC Student Art Exhibition 2023 in the Student Commons area of the Metro Campus between April 21 – May 24. Photo by Tatyana Nyborg.

Ceramics and jewelry making are three-dimensional arts. Working in these mediums requires knowledge of the materials, techniques, and equipment used. All those exclusive skills can be learned in TCC’s ceramics and metal jewelry-making classes.

TCC art student, Makena Quandt, presented a set of ceramic works titled “Japanese Wave Dinner Set,” which was featured among other entries at this year’s art event. The three ceramic plates and the bowl impress the viewers with perfection in the making and executing of tiny pattern details. The white and blue color contrast is known as a traditional pattern, for example, in Chinese or Russian porcelain, but in Quandt’s artwork, the tradition is transformed into a new expression.

TCC art student, Makena Quandt, presented a set of ceramic works titled “Japanese Wave Dinner Set” at the TCC Student Art Exhibition 2023. Photo by Tatyana Nyborg.

Koren Russell’s necklace, “Beetle Bolo,” was also displayed at the exhibition. The pendant is an enlarged image of an insect. The combination of reddish copper, yellow brass, and a metal powder coated with black, is a successful idea to make a bug look real. The wings of the insect are bent to create a 3D effect. The pendant is placed on a cord and can be adjusted depending on how a person wants to wear it.

Koren Russell’s necklace “Beetle Bolo” was also displayed at the exhibition. The pendant is an enlarged image of an insect. Photo by Tatyana Nyborg.

Tatyana Nyborg, TCC Connection Metro Campus editor, likes to explore themes from her Slavic heritage in her creations. Nyborg’s necklace, “The Bird of Happiness and Golden Apples,” became a centerpiece on the jewelry display wall at the art showcase.

The necklace of Tatyana Nyborg, TCC Connection Metro Campus editor, named “The Bird of Happiness and Golden Apples” is a centerpiece on the jewelry display wall at the student exhibition. Photo by Tatyana Nyborg.

“The Bird of Happiness and Golden Apples” plot is taken from a Russian fairy tale about a firebird, symbolizing happiness in Russian culture. The firebird is usually portrayed in bright yellow, gold, red, and orange colors in Russian folk-art paintings, such as wooden and papier-mache boxes, plates, and other household items. That is why Nyborg made the “Bird of Happiness” from yellow brass and decorated it with multicolor crystals. According to the fairy tale, the bent-into-sphere copper circles and plastic beads represent the golden apples that the firebird was stealing from the Tsar’s orchid. The copper circles are colored brown in a sulfuric solution for contrast. The firebird’s figure is bent to raise it four millimeters above the background of the pendant to create the impression that it is flying.

See the fourth review of the TCC Student Art Exhibition 2023 in the next edition of the TCC Connection.