Year: 2008

April 20 – April 30, 2008
Elon Arts West Gallery; Elon University, North Carolina

From the beginning of the school year, senior art students met with a committee of professors to develop their ideas for their senior thesis exhibition. Megan worked on six collage portraits where she went through a process of intense editing for each one. This was Megan’s first cohesive body of collage work.

The senior exhibition featured the work of eleven artists who worked in a variety of media, including photography, ceramics, collage, and installation. The artists didn’t limit themselves to the media they studied—for instance, Megan was a painting major and she exhibited collages (although her collages have a heavy painting influence).

Megan Coyle’s senior thesis artwork was on display in Elon Arts West Gallery. Her thesis included the following collage portraits: “Benjamin,” “Jean,” “Bill,” “Bren,” “Scott,” and “Ali.” The exhibition lasted two weeks before it was taken down to make room for the second senior art exhibition.

The following was Megan’s artist statement for the exhibition:

I associate the people I’m close to with scenes in my mind, with memories and places that illustrate their personalities.  By bringing together the human form, and the associations that illustrate these people, a conversation is created between the work and its viewers.  The narratives form a story that others can imagine in their minds.  Each setting was made specifically for each sitter, relating to what kind of person he or she is.  For each portrait, the setting, shadows, everyday objects, and sitter’s expression, represents each figure’s personality as I see it.  The variations in the developed surface have reminded me of the complexities of the different planes and areas of muscles on the human face.  Thus collage works well in communicating the variety of forms and values seen when looking at people.

April 11 – May 24, 2008
Isabella Cannon Room; Elon University, North Carolina

Megan Coyle’s “Figure in front of Window” collage was on display in Elon University’s Isabella Cannon Room for an all senior art show. She created this collage portrait specifically for the “All Senior Art Show.”

The art show gave senior art students a chance to showcase artwork that represented their entire body of work for that year. Megan created a series of six collage portraits for her senior thesis, where she went through an extensive process of editing each collage. For the “All Senior Art Show,” she wanted to display a piece of art that represented her collage process. “Figure in front of Window” does just that—the collage has a partially finished look which emphasizes the shape of the magazine cut-outs that have been glued down. The original paper that the magazine cut-outs are on shines through a bit, as well as parts of Megan’s underlying sketch that was done before she started collaging. The portrait shows the transition of moving from a rough sketch to a representational collage portrait.

March 27 – July 27, 2008
Smithsonian’s Ripley Center; Washington, D.C.
Map and Gallery Info

In the summer of 2007, Megan interned at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG). After spending a summer paging through several old art catalogues, Megan became more familiar with NPG’s previous exhibitions and she became more interested in portraiture—she found herself focusing more on figures in her artwork. Her internship also inspired the work she did for her senior art thesis exhibition.

During Megan’s internship, she entered the Smithsonian’s annual juried community art show. Her collage, “Girl with Glasses,” was acceptedand displayed in the 2008 exhibition at the Smithsonian’s Ripley Center. Megan chose this particular work for her submission because she felt it represented her experience at NPG the best and it reflected the type of work the museum has—portraiture.

The exhibition showcased the work of several members of the Smithsonian community, including employees, interns, and volunteers. The work ranged from illustration to pastel work to mixed media sculpture.

The following was the introduction to the exhibition:

This juried exhibition, the Smithsonian Community Committee’s third art show, underscores the often hidden talents within the Smithsonian community. While we received over a hundred and seventy entries, only seventy could be selected for display. The subjects of these works and the materials from which they are made are as diverse as the people who comprise the Smithsonian family and the collections of the Institution itself.

Side by side are images and forms inspired by the lure of distant lands and the love of the familiar.  These creations of paint, canvas, paper, charcoal, pastel, ink, fabric, metal, stone, clay and light speak of the artists’ fascination with the world around them—objects, ideas, and people often encountered through their work with the Smithsonian. They are evidence of the inspired, after-hours activities of our staff, research fellows, interns, contractors, and volunteers. Their reserves of energy, imagination, and skillfulness enhance all aspects of our everyday work.