Our Events

Rotating Exhibition

To fulfill its objective of providing the USF art community with stimulating visual art experiences on the website, the Centre Gallery seeks to provide appropriate notification of mature content works. The following exhibition does include a mature content work that displays the photography of an animal's passing.

Meet Your Artist 

My name is Briana Miele (she/her), and I am currently a first-year student. I graduated from Hillsborough High School IB. I have taken Higher Level, IB Art and AP Art. I have displayed my works in various shows throughout the community, including the Rembrandt Youth Art Show and my own exhibition at my previous high school. My favorite mediums are acrylic and oil. I hope to become more involved with the art community here on campus. Additionally, I aspire to attend medical school and become a surgeon.

Artist Statement 

My vision for presenting my exhibition was to have the viewer observe a journey of metacognition. Metacognition is thinking about thinking and is utilized as a learning tool for students and teachers. I wanted to apply metacognition as a learning tool through a traumatic journey that one could unwillingly embark on. In an effort to exhibit my own experiences with metacognition and how I used metacognition to overcome and triumph through a challenging time in my life, I intend for my audience to connect to the works on a personal level. My intention is for the viewers to think about a time in their life when events were not suitable or for the viewer to think of a close friend who was going through rough patches. The viewer should feel empathetic towards themselves and towards anyone who goes through a trying event. What the viewer should take away from my exhibition is the tools and positivity needed to overcome taxing circumstances. The exhibition displays the journey of metacognition, in which the journeyer is continually placed in difficult situations; however, in the end, the journeyer comes out stronger. The viewer should be encouraged by the end of the exhibition that even in strenuous situations, there is always light and learning opportunities connected with the experiences. Becoming a stronger individual based upon complicated circumstances is one of the most rewarding and valuable feelings that one can receive. The exhibition is my internal view upon metacognition, and the viewer can take away with them the feeling of hope and triumph after overcoming any complication, no matter how big or small.

Materials 

For this show, I used photography, acrylic, graphite pencil, and watercolor to portray my theme of metacognition. In my original exhibition, I exhibited my work in a small room to submerge the viewer into my mind and my journey through metacognition. I used walls with white backgrounds to imitate the inner working of the mind. I choose to install lights to create a better and more professional feel to the exhibition itself. I ensured that the lighting would enhance, rather than detract from the meaning and composition of my works. The goal of the light addition was to create a lasting visual impact on the viewer, to immerse the viewer into the exhibition by lighting up the path of the journey through the works of art.

Additionally, my exhibition contains two series that are related by their color scheme and their meanings. The Initial Ascent and The Descent (series) are connected by the monochromatic use of black and white. The pieces are placed at either end of the exhibition because Ascent is the beginning of the metacognition journey, and Descent is the end of the journey. Elysium & Concrete (series) are connected by Adobe Photoshop's filter Cyan. Before applying Cyan, I had to apply the Natural black and white filter first because applying Cyan first would have washed out the details of the decaying bird. Each of the pieces in my exhibition is in chronological order of when the event took place. I enhanced this meaning by placing four of the works on the left wall sloping downwards to mimic the feeling of the mental downfall of the artist.

Artist Questions

What is the inspiration for this current exhibition?
I was inspired by the photographers Henri Cartier Bresson and Edward Weston to capture seemingly mundane subject matter and artfully composing it, using a black and white filter in Adobe Photoshop. In Fracture, I planned the composition of the piece, as the shatters of the glass create a pattern. I had to ensure that I captured the part of the shattered glass that I thought had the best quality of the composition. I was inspired by Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa in my piece Reach for Drowning Success, which is the central piece, as it displays the beginning of the journeyer overcoming their difficult event. I was inspired to recreate this piece using a hand instead of the wave and by changing the overall meaning of the original work. Each of the photographs was carefully selected from my portfolio to assist the meaning of my exhibition to the viewer. My graphite drawing, acrylics paintings, and watercolor paintings were made based on the exhibition.

What is your process?
My vision of my exhibition was to display my own journey that I endured. I decided to use certain materials to best portray my journey. Sometimes, the journey was messy, and therefore, I portrayed that with watercolor. At some points, the journey was a revelation; therefore, I used stark graphite. Sometimes, the journey required attention to detail; therefore, I used acrylics. My exhibition took a total of two years to create and present. Some pieces took more time than others because I wanted to ensure that I portrayed the correct feelings that I was having on the canvas.

What are your goals after this year?
I intend to continue creating pieces of art. I would love to present another exhibition soon, with a different theme. I absolutely love getting the opportunity to portray my thoughts and feelings through my artwork.