Last Wednesday, I attended my third art show and reception at Flora Rose House in the main dining room. I’ve always enjoyed attending this event each semester and getting a “behind the scenes” look at the artwork I’ll be eating next to in the weeks ahead.

The first thing that struck me about this year’s art collection was the variety of media incorporated in one space. In addition to paintings, the display includes photographs of hairstyles, t-shirts, and prints hung in strands along the wall. The artist, Nicholas Carbonaro, was at the event answering questions and he gave a short talk on the ideas behind the exhibit. The variety of mediums, he explained, is designed to showcase his creative collaborations with various groups over the course of his artistic career. For example, the photos of hairstyles are taken from his work for Madame Tussauds and Broadway productions and the t-shirts were created by a friend of his from his artwork.

One feature that ties most of the paintings and prints together is the recurring motif of dissimilar eyes on the faces of the people and animals depicted. I was glad someone at the event asked him to discuss the significance of this stylistic choice, as it was the aspect that I noticed the most on first viewing the artwork. Mr. Carbonaro explained that this feature is supposed to represent the fact that no human face, or any object in nature, is completely symmetrical. In this way, he sees his artwork as a more realistic depiction of life than the artfully arranged selfies on social media which are designed to give the impression of symmetry and perfection.