Gage Academy Bids Farewell to Capitol Hill with Graduating Class

Congratulations to the Gage graduates for completing their programs and their final student showcase at Gage Academy of Art! This Best Of showcase was Gage’s last show in their Capitol Hill location, as they’ll be moving to a new spot soon. Many of these recent graduates have had their pieces shown across Seattle, including a contemporary showcase held at AXIS a few months ago. The showcase grouped the different art pieces by categories: still life, nature, figures, sculpture, portrait, narrative, and abstract. While much of the art was displayed in the hallway, there were more works within each of the atelier studios filled with student notes and examples of color theories, composition, form, and more. 

Works of Angelique Pham, 2023 / The Evergreen Echo

Angelique Phan, for one, held two notable pieces away from the main gallery. In Retiarius (2023), oil on canvas, Phan paid close attention to the contours of the subject’s body and highlighted the use of a single light source, maybe a window off the frame. The shadows hugged the figure’s gentle curves around his back, butt, and chiseled musculature. The figure is caught leisurely in motion dragging a pitchfork across the floor with a deep red rug in the background. There is no shame—only confidence—exuded in the intimate exposure of the royal statured model. In a more darkened work, Pham uses chiaroscuro (the handling of light and shadow) to perfectly draw in the viewer to become a part of the scene. Tenebrism, the use of a focal point of light within the painting, is delicately used by Pham using focus of darkness as a subject. It will be exciting to see more works to come and how her use of darkness will evolve.

While paintings were the most common medium present at the show, some canvas pieces utilized mixed media. One in particular, May A Calm Breeze Soothe Your Aching Heart (2024) by Megan McDermott, incorporates beading, plant fibers, and acrylic paint. The intricate detail and flow of beading within the bees, flowers, and leaves look like a small patch on a couture dress or the lapel of a gussied suit jacket. It would be magnificent to see a future of McDermott’s work into other mediums like fashion. While Gage does not specialize in fashion design, McDermott has exemplified potential in the couture space through this very intentional consideration of beading. The piece is reminiscent of F/W 2013 Alexander McQueen with a flare of Frida Khalo inspiration. 

May A Calm Breeze Soothe Your Aching Heart (2024) by Megan McDermott / The Evergreen Echo

Many of the works throughout the show featured human subjects. It’s evident that the human form is extensively studied there; Gage hosts regular live model sessions. A majority of the sculptures displayed were human subjects, mostly with strong realism and away from any abstraction. In a human-heavy painting, Evan Liu’s The Illusion (2024), an oil and metal leaf landscape, leaves no space for mundanity as every inch of the canvas is filled with new, delicate details of the brush, seamless blending, and color contrasts. In the scene, a woman mystically ascends into the sky, leaving three yearning, depleted women on a desolate, cracked cliff. The earth stays a pale brown while the sky is filled with colors of a setting sun and an exploding galaxy of stars. 

The Illusion by Evan Liu, 2024 / The Evergreen Echo

There is much talent and potential for these Gage graduates and current students. As the academy expands their campus to South Lake Union, there will be more artists and spectacular shows. Gage’s gallery hallway will expand with more space for art, students, and learning. Though the grand opening is a few months away, students will continue to pursue their art careers and make Seattle even more of a thriving art city. 

The next big event hosted by Gage Academy of Arts is a Grand Opening Party in their new South Lake Union building on Saturday, September 7th. We look forward to the students’ future work.