Courtesy of Lily Campbell

“The host will let you in soon,” the Fall 2023 Undergraduate Art Show, opened with a public reception in the Green Hall gallery on Wednesday, Nov. 29, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Sculptures, prints, installations and more adorned the walls of the three-floor gallery space in the School of Art for their bi-annual show. The show, which will be open through Dec. 8, features works by all seniors majoring in Art, with juniors in the major given the opportunity to participate as well.

“For me, this project—and exhibition as a whole—was an exploration in reflecting my identity and consciousness in the pieces of media that I feel have defined—or guided me through—my development into who I am today,” Lily Campbell ’24 wrote to the News.

Campbell’s works formed an installation featuring “In My Room” (2023), “Burden of Contraception” (2022) and “Untitled” (2021), as well as a rug resembling the one in her childhood bedroom, a wooden record organizer complete with some of her favorite records and chair she found discarded in the senior studio.

The exhibition features works by Alana Liu ’24, alexander rubalcava ’24, Cate Roser ’25, Chiara Hardy ’24, Cleo Maloney ’25, Dora Pang ’24, Ellika Edelman ’24, Ethan Shim ’24, Eunice Kiang ’24, Flores Espinosa ’24, Hannah Foley ’24, Jacob Feit Mann ’24, Kaci Xie ’25, Kaia Mladenova ’24, Karela Palazio ’25, Leo Lee ’25, Lily Campbell, Mazie Wong ’25, Megan Graham ’24, Mikiala Ng ’24, Nathan Puletasi ’24, Olivia Marwell ’24, Stephanie Wang ’24, Talia Tax ’24, Tilman Phleger ’24 and Whitney Toutenhoofd ’25.

For many members of the class of 2024 who are majoring in Art, this exhibition provided an opportunity to display portions of what will be their senior theses. 

“Conceptualizing this work along with my current use of western culture had been an exciting process—drawing inspiration from ranchers back home in Spokane, Washington, famous outlaws, western figures like the Marlboro Man, country artists like Riddy Arman, and much more, all as research pertaining to my thesis, while also creating a narrative of how we interact with Mother Nature and how she prevails in reclamation,” Nathan Puletasi wrote to the News.

Puletasi’s work, “I Can’t Hear My Duck Call Over All These Damn Taxis,” includes a battered animal hide hung on the wall above the engine of a 1977 Chevrolet Camaro stuffed with hay. On top of the engine sits an empty pack of Marlboro cigarettes.

Some students expressed concerns about the lack of opportunities presented to undergraduate students in the Art major.

“For the seniors, this is the first time we have gotten to show our work since being at Yale,” Campbell said. “While we are constantly creating for both our personal practice and our classwork, it isn’t until this first, mid-year show that we actually get a space to feel our work is appreciated and seen.”

The undergraduate Art department has long battled complaints of inaccessibility and limited resources, from insufficient space in their courses to high expectations of investment in both time and materials, even without the recently eliminated course fees. 

Other works in the exhibition include “Ivàn” (2023) by Kaia Mladenova. Using wood, acrylic and LED lights, she designed an apparatus that measures time with light based on the sun and the moon.

“I wanted to create an object that could become a part of someone’s living environment and serve a purpose. I did not aim to create an art piece. I think of my work as an experimentation—a process of creating something useful and beautiful that is also a conversation starter,” Mladenova wrote to the News.

“The host will let you in soon” is open to the Yale community in the Green Hall Gallery from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, through Dec. 8, 2023.