Students in the College of Fine Arts program are rarely seen outside the realms of their personal studios. For graduating students, three of the last four years at the UA have been spent working toward completing their senior theses.

This year’s Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Exhibition, located in the Union Gallery at the Student Union Memorial Center, is an opportunity for these seniors to present their work in a showcase that is bursting with variety.

“Every year you kind of get to see this new update on what people are talking about and how they interpret it,” said Carlos Torrejon, Union Gallery manager and curator. “The cool thing about the BFA show is that you don’t just see that from the aspect of photography or the aspect of painting, you see that from the design realm or the sculptural realm. So you’re seeing all these varieties of people talking about what’s going on today, and that’s awesome.”

While it is his first year as the BFA Senior Exhibition curator, Torrejon has spent a lot of time in the College of Fine Arts and said he believes this year’s show is stronger because it features more artists than in previous years, adding more variety and different media.

Fine arts senior Michael Mason has two pieces of work on display in the show and chose to focus on his interpretations of border fences. Through oil paintings, Mason sought to examine the cultural implications of borders as more than barricades for human movement.

While much of the art on display is alive with deep, symbolic meaning, some of this year’s showcase is more lighthearted. “You see a lot of the photographers who are nearing the end of the year and are like, ‘You know what; I want to do what I want to do,’” Torrejon said. “So it’s like this funny crack at things, these kind of satires, and for me, I love the humor of so many of these people … so it’s nice to see the artists kind of let loose and crack a joke here and there.”

Jeff Lowry, a illustration senior, created a detailed polyptych of lumberjacks doing kick flips and tricks off tree stumps, titled “The Four Lumberjacks.” Each panel is fashioned of skateboard decks, a direct allusion to Lowry’s background in skateboarding.

The Senior Exhibition is a showcase that brings a large community together. Because many of the topics covered by the students are thought-provoking or humorous, the exhibition can begin discussions and build connections.

“I love to smile at some of the pieces. I love the humor,” said Torrejon. “For a lot of these guys, it’s about playing with these ideas. They may be sexual; they may be unusual; it may just be politically speaking, but the ones I can kind of crack a smile and it’s not so heavy-handed, that’s the ones that are the best.”