Ordinary subject matter becomes extraordinary art in the hands of the four studio art majors exhibiting their work at Sweet Briar College’s Anne Gary Pannell Gallery this spring. The senior art show, “Ordinary Things/Extraordinary Things,” will open with an artist talk and reception at 7 p.m. Friday, April 7. The event is free and open to the public.

The work of all four artists is representational, but the similarities end there.

Julie Drake grew up on the distant shores of the Pacific in San Jose, Calif. The most prolific printmaker of the group, Drake will showcase her interesting use of color in her works in oil. Using vibrant blues and oranges, her innocent subjects — a girl laughing as she drinks from a milk carton, a young man thinking with chin in hand — become dynamic compositions, both eye-catching and thought provoking.

Ivey Tabor of Chesapeake is a studio art major with a concentration in painting. She is also an art history minor. The show’s title may find its most literal expression in Tabor’s work. Single objects glow against dark backgrounds. The subjects of her work — an old-fashioned alarm clock, a brightly shining lamp — take on additional meaning when treated with such clarity and simplicity. Indeed, the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Another Virginia native, Susan Lea is from Virginia Beach. Although her concentration is in painting, some of her most arresting works are deeply expressive pen-and-ink portraits. Powerfully drawn and delicately colored, upon further reflection what at first appeared a simple portrait often is found to carry a subtle but potent social or political message.

Kerry Buxton is a native of Maine and a resident of Gladstone, Va., since 2003. Portraiture, the figure and the use of symbols are dominant features in her intensely autobiographical work. She uses images of herself and her family to describe a world that is half-dream and half-memory, and strongly allegorical.

Taken together, these artists offer a commentary on the variety of perspectives available to us all on even the most mundane of subjects. The show will feature a variety of media including charcoal drawings, oil pastels, monoprints and sculpture. The artists’ talk on April 7 will be followed by an open question and answer period.

The exhibit closes May 14. Admission is free. Gallery hours are 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday through Friday, with evening hours until 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The gallery is closed on Saturdays. For more information, please contact the director of SBC galleries at rmlane@sbc.edu or (434) 381-6248.

– By Kerry Buxton, '06