The Department of Art and Art history will present the 2013 Bachelor of Fine Art Spring Exhibition at the UTSA Art Gallery on May 1. The exhibit will show the work of 42 students all of whom will be graduating in May. This semester is the largest student BFA show in UTSA’s history.

The exhibition will include the work of many student artists through painting, photography, sculpture and drawing.

“It’s been quite a journey,” says Rebecca Seiler who has a painting and sculpture concentration. “Many of us have put everything we got into our work, and it definitely shows. The gallery is packed full of talent, and I’m excited to hear about others’ success including mine in the future. I’m proud of several individuals who have work in the show,” says Seiler.

Seiler is presenting a landscape on birch wood panel that incorporates real objects, such as deer antlers and dirt. Seiler plays with two and three dimensions with her piece that sets the tone for the space. The landscape is dusky but uses a colorful palette.

Students spend the entire year creating unique and innovative pieces that expand the limits of their artwork. Inspiration comes from anywhere for these ambitious young artists.

“My favorite places to peruse are antique shops because I have this obsession with childhood toys and how I can manipulate them into something completely different than their original connotations or intensions,” says Seiler.

Student artist Bianca Alvarez is presenting a painting titled “Reconstructed.” Her piece is a painting with sculptural elements that give her work a multi-dimensional perspective. Alvarez uses cornhusks and converts them into a paper that is integrated into a chicken wire on a fabricated sculpture. Her work makes it difficult to describe as a pure painting.

“My work revolves around exposing the fragility and resilience in the materials I work with, mimicking ritual and repetition found in nature and of the human spirit. To further push the idea of change and adaptation due to modification, I utilize unconventional, ephemeral materials as a way of acknowledging that each piece has its own life,” says Alvarez.

A performance piece by Fabiola Barragan Perales will also be presented in which Perales portrays herself as Lindsay Lohan. The performance piece is a protest, which brings attention to the fact that Lindsay Lohan is covered more than important issues such as the deaths tied to the Mexican drug cartels.

Taylor Bosworth, who had an exhibit at Hello Studio in February, is showing a series of honeycomb paintings with real honeycombs incorporated within. Bosworth uses hard cubes with straight lines juxtaposed with honeycomb shaped frames.

“There are pieces in the show that make you wonder if it’s a painting or a sculpture, or both,” says Alvarez. “This show really encompasses the grand spectrum of what art can be, definitely challenging traditional notions and approaches.”

The BFA Spring Exhibition will be on display at the UTSA Art Gallery from May 1 to May 12. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, visit art.utsa.edu.