‘Try Harder Please’ features artist with something to prove

Junior Kristin Murray will be exhibiting a series of prints and photographs at the student art space in the University Student Commons in the hopes of adding legitimacy to an art form she feels is often unappreciated.

“I think digital illustration doesn’t get a lot of respect in the fine art world, (among) people who work in traditional mediums,” Murray said. “It’s not on that level yet. I always feel it’s interesting for people to get digital media into galleries to sort of raise it to that level. I don’t think a lot of people think of digital illustration like that.”

The exhibition, titled “Try Harder Please,” features a series of digital prints and photographs which use a variety of materials and subject matter drawn from Murray’s desire to shed light on people’s more guarded moments.

“I just draw things that I think are interesting,” she said. “This exhibition has to do with quirks in people I meet or come across. I guess I just wanted to show people the way they are. To show what people do behind closed doors.”

The show’s title was chosen with an aim to let viewers decide for themselves what she means. She also chose not to title any of the pieces.

“When I name my shows usually I try to be kind of lighthearted about it,” Murray said. “I feel like titles are powerful and they lead a person a certain way, and I don’t know if I want to do that. I like to name shows in a way that can be open to interpretation.”

Murray, a graphic design major, utilized a variety of mediums to create the work for the exhibition. A set of untitled prints was created using clear transparencies, PVC tape and paint, and features a group of friends posing with various electronic devices.

One piece features a group of apparent scraps from other prints and stray pieces of tape cascading off of the canvas. Murray found that scraps from the other pieces worked well as a piece in their own right. “Sometimes what’s left over is better than the original stuff,” Murray said.

After the exhibition, Murray will be traveling to the Netherlands to study at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie. “I’m really into Dutch design right now,” she said. ” I’m moving to Amsterdam for six months, hopefully longer.”

The exhibit will run through Dec.16.