LSU School of Art Students won several awards at the recent Student Union Art Gallery’s undergraduate student art show.

Jonathan Wagner, a ceramics major, took first place for his sculptures, Rattle and Twins. Wagner says, “Rattle and Twins are lost toys in a sense, beloved but forgotten in a treasure trove or curio.” The former is a rattle made with a baby’s head. The latter is of conjoined twins connected at the sides, sharing two arms and three legs with two heads. “I have always been interested in how the body mutates into making such beautiful oddities,” Wagner says.

Andy Thompson, a sophomore majoring in digital arts, took second place for his piece, “Escapism.” In the piece, Thompson says, “I attempted to explore auditory stimuli and contextualize my interpretation through 3-D animation, but allow the viewer to develop his or her own interpretation of the piece.”

Juan Baldera, a first-year student entering the Digital Art concentration, took third place for his untitled painting of a solitary bull on a field of white. The theme is about being alone. “The part that we show others and the parts that we glean from others is only a fraction of what defines us. Nobody knows our ‘heart of hearts’ and therefore we go through it all, everything, by ourselves,” Baldera says. Baldera also won the popular vote for his painting, “The Tree That Grows Crooked Will Never Straighten Its Trunk.” The painting’s title comes from a Mexican saying that Baldera’s mother would tell him just before he was disciplined. “She said that I was her little tree and that she needed to straighten me out when I was young,” Baldera says, “because it would be too late as I grew older.”

Honorable Mentions include Kelsey Cook, Trevor Godbolt, Elizabeth “Duncan” Raster, James Packard, Andy Thompson, Wade Tullier, and H. Cole Wiley. Kelsey Cook also received a Co-Op Bookstore gift certificate.

CONTACT: RENEE SMITH (225) 772-6296 /rbache2@lsu.edu