Currier House Art Gallery

Welcome

to the Currier House Art Gallery!

Summer's Storm (2020)

Mike Shirek, Senior, Oil on Linen

"A view of the setting sun striking a thundercloud miles away back home in North Dakota. This was actually the view from my backyard. The piece also serves as my personal exploration into the capabilities of linen canvas, with which I've completely fallen in love."

Mike Shirek is a largely self-taught painter originally from a small town in North Dakota. Painting has been a passion of his since middle school. His work covers everything from landscapes, to cityscapes, to portraiture, and he views each new work as an exciting opportunity for growth. Mike will be graduating from Harvard this May (2020) with a degree in Psychology and a secondary in Scandinavian Studies (focusing on Swedish.) You can view his art on Instagram at @mshirek_art (https://www.instagram.com/m.shirek/?hl=en), or you can visit his website and purchase prints of his work at https://www.mshirekart.com/! He appreciates any and all support!

Love from my heart (2017)

Vicky Xu, Senior, drawing with pens

Vicky Xu is a senior in Currier House. Follow her drawings on Instagram: @xudoodles!

(https://www.instagram.com/xudoodles/?hl=en!)

Portrait of Elle Shaheen (2020)

Mike Shirek, Senior, Oil on Panel

"A portrait I did of Elle Shaheen, a fellow actor and friend. Elle was also one of the first six women to be cast in a Hasty Pudding show. I asked to do the portrait after seeing a stunning picture she had uploaded to Instagram in which the Hawaiian sun highlights her face and contrasts it to the rich greens of foliage around her. "

Portrait of Annabel O'Hagan (2019)

Mike Shirek, Senior, Oil on Canvas

"A portrait of another actress and friend through Harvard theater, Annabel O'Hagan. Like Elle Shaheen, Annabel was one of the first six women cast in a Hasty Pudding show. She's someone who is constantly warm and energetic, but I felt the cool tones and ease of Annabel's position in this painting better captured the Annabel I came to know. "

Fish light fish (2017)

Vicky Xu, Senior, Drawing with pens

Vinterstugan (2020)

Mike Shirek, Senior, Oil on Canvas

"The largest painting I've completed to date, Vinterstugan is on a 24" x 30" canvas. I wanted to capture the coziness of winter alongside the iconic red, Swedish cabin (a "stuga.") The reference came from an online wallpaper, so I unfortunately cannot sell prints. However, I love the piece too much not to share with Currier House. It currently sits above my mother's fireplace with her other winter/holiday decorations."

Stories From Richert Ranch (2020)

Sabrina Richert, Senior, Animation of wool puppets, backlit clay, and paint on glass, as well as some pixilation and live action

"This is my senior thesis, and it is three different stories from my childhood of growing up on a small, family-owned farm in Northeast Indiana. I’m the fifth generation in my family to have sheep, and over the years, my family also has had a menagerie of other animals, including cattle, ducks, chickens, goats, rabbits, turkeys, pigs, guinea fowl, quail, and pheasants. Thus, much of my childhood was spent caring for and working with these animals, going to 4-H fairs and livestock shows, and processing the joys and trials that all of these experiences brought.

The animals I grew up with and the experiences I shared with these animals have left a profound impact on me and helped shape me into the person I am today. Thus, my art often focuses on my animals or growing up on a farm, as this is a part of my background that means a lot to me and that I have learned much from, as well as an experience that only few people can relate to. By exploring these themes, I hope to gain more insights into these experiences and myself and help give others a glimpse into a world that they are unfamiliar with. There are some common themes to living on a farm, such as routines, disruption to these routines (by humans, animals, outside forces, and all combinations of these), adaptation, and physicality (both hands-on work, and a great variety of textures, including those of wool, straw, wood, metal, feed), which I frequently explore in my art and art projects, and especially focused on for this thesis."

See more of Sabrina's work at http://sabrinarichert.wixsite.com/artportfolio

Click here to view the film:

https://vimeo.com/406208278/d7641389bd

Afternoon on the Quad (2019)

Mike Shirek, Senior, Oil on Canvas

"A 10" x 8" plein air painting of the Quad lawn one sunny day last summer."