Though her artistic ancestry suggested otherwise, when senior April West arrived at Lawrence, she had no intention of pursuing that glorious field which Merriam-Webster so artlessly – pun definitely intended – defined as “a branch of learning” or “one of the humanities.”
But after taking studio art with the famed and mysterious Julie and Johnny, our heroine remembered “how sweet art is,” and answered the call of her ancestors by delving into the depths of the art world.
She even had art on the brain while she was in Florence, Italy last year studying abroad. In this renowned city, April was fortunate enough to be able to take figure-drawing classes at a studio located in a renovated church.
She noted that aside from the obvious benefits of the incredible instruction she received, “I also got a lot of exposure into the workings of the real art world; I only worked on two pieces the entire time I was there and was constantly surrounded by professionals who made a living from their art.”
Lately, though, West’s main focus has been maps. Last term she dedicated an independent study to the printing of world maps onto Wisconsin state road maps, a project that will continue and eventually become part of this year’s senior show.
In a ceramics class last term, she focused once again on the wonders of geographic representation by creating 3-D ceramic maps. When asked why she chose maps as the focus of much of her recent work, West did not have a clear answer aside from the totally understandable “I do love me some maps.” Though she may be a woman of few words, do not think for a minute that she is not an artist of immense talents; she is.
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